(CNN Business) –– WhatsApp announced several privacy updates on Tuesday. Among them, the possibility that people review their messages without other users knowing.
The platform will soon allow people to control who can see that they are online. Also prevent others from taking screenshots of certain messages and leaving groups without notifying the entire channel.
WhatsApp has more than 2 billion users worldwide and belongs to Meta, Facebook’s parent company. Announcing the updates to Facebook and Instagram, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would continue to “create new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations.”
For a long time, WhatsApp has promoted the use of end-to-end encryption. Which means that only the sender and recipient of a message can see its content. And, like other private messaging platforms, it already allows its users to send messages that disappear following certain set periods.
However, last year WhatsApp came under intense scrutiny following an update to its terms of service.
At the time, many users raised concerns regarding a part of WhatsApp’s privacy policy that detailed content being shared with parent company Facebook. Which, precisely, has a problematic reputation when it comes to protecting user data.
The update took many people to use Signal, another popular encrypted messaging platform.
Facebook tried to dispel the confusion regarding the policy. And he explained that his data-sharing practices were not new and did not “affect the way people communicate privately with friends or family.”
Now, two of the new features coming to WhatsApp — letting you choose who can see when you’re online and leaving groups silent — will start rolling out to all users this month.
The tool to block screenshots, which will be available in messages intended to be seen only once, is still being tested and will be available at a later date, according to WhatsApp.
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