On Tuesday, WhatsApp announced three new privacy features, and one of it will allow you to "quietly" leave the group chat without alerting everyone, as per CNET.
According to the Meta-owned company, it will roll out a feature that will let you leave groups silently. With this, administrators will still get a notification however, everyone else in a group chat will not be alerted.
The new feature could be particularly useful for larger group chats. For example, you may want to exit a group chat that themed around an event, or a hyperactive chat that you find tiring already.
Privacy Features Will Roll Out Later This Month
Another new privacy feature that WhatsApp will release soon will allow you to hide your active online status from specific people. When you enable this feature, the app will hide to those you selected the exact moments when you are available in the app.
The current setting of WhatsApp shows to other users when you are online. Anyone who can view your profile can see your status.
Another thing about WhatsApp is it shows to other users when you were last active. With the new privacy feature, you can already hide that information from other people through the app's privacy settings.
The third feature, which is currently in testing, will block others users from taking screenshots of messages that are intended to be viewed once only.
The ability to screenshot a message has been a major issue for apps that encourage ephemeral messaging like Snapchat. Previously, they have combatted the issue through sending a notification when a screenshot of the message was made.
While the new feature that WhatsApp plans to roll out is going to be useful, a user can still capture an ephemeral message using a separate device. Therefore, users should still be careful in sending sensitive material.
The new privacy features will roll out on WhatsApp later this month, as per The Verge.
WhatsApp Works to Keep Conversations in the Platform Safe and Private
According to WhatsApp, the new privacy features aimed to continue improving the privacy around online conversations within the platform, as per The Independent.
However, as per The Independent, there are some campaigners who have reacted on the end-to-end encryption that is being used on WhatsApp and some other platforms. They claimed that it lets criminals escape detection.
Meanwhile, in the post that announced the WhatsApp update, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: "We'll keep building new ways to protect your messages and keep them as private and secure as face-to-face conversations."
According to Ami Vora, WhatsApp's head of product, the platform was leaning on creating features that "empower people to have more control and privacy over their messages".
She said that over the years, WhatsApp has been adding interlocking layers of protection to help keep their conversations safe. The new features that they are adding this month is another way to keep their commitment to keep messages private.
She reiterated their belief that WhatsApp is the most secure place to conduct a private conversation.
Thus, to inform others about the new features, WhatsApp is starting a global campaign, starting with the UK and India. The campaign will be focused on educating people how the platform is protecting their private conversations.
Related Article: WhatsApp Might Let Users Leave Group Chats 'Silently' in a Future Update
