WhatsApp has announced some significant changes to its privacy settings on the chat app, including a feature which will allows users to choose who can see if they are online or not.
Called 'online presence control', the new setting allows WhatsAppers to privately use the app without being visibly online, or alternatively, curate which contacts can see their online status while hiding it from others. The company has revealed that the feature will work for both app and desktop users, and can be used for an unlimited number of contacts.
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According to Techcrunch, WhatsApp is also testing a screenshot blocking tool for 'view once' messages. The app launched the Snapchat-esque disappearing media option in 2021 – it's said that the new anti-screenshot mode will be available "soon".
And in exciting news for regular WhatsApp group-exiters, the app has also announced that it will now allow users to leave groups privately without sending a notification to everyone in the chat. Group admins will still get a notification, but it will no doubt make for much less awkwardness in certain situations (case in point, leaving the family group chat after a breakup – ouch).
The updates come as concerns around online safety continue to circulate. The government's recent online safety bill has raised further awareness around the issue of privacy and abusive online behaviour, which has harsher penalties introduced for offences such as cyberflashing and revenge porn.
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It has also introduced communications offences, which includes “coercive and controlling online behaviour and stalking, including, in the context of domestic abuse, threats related to a partner’s finances or threats concerning physical harm.
Women are disproportionately the victims of online domestic abuse, as research by Women’s Aid found that 85% of respondents said the abuse they received online from a partner or ex-partner was part of a pattern of abuse they also experienced offline.
Upon announcing the bill, the government called on tech companies to "make sure the features, functionalities and algorithms of their services are designed to prevent their users encountering them and minimise the length of time this content is available.”
