WhatsApp users have for long agonized over their online activity being advertised to other WhatsApp users without their consent. Meta seems to have heard you and updated its privacy features accordingly.Starting August 2022, you won't have to sneak out of a WhatsApp group at 2 AM in the hope that no one will notice. Here are the details.

WhatsApp to Introduce 3 New Privacy Features

WhatsApp has added new features, long demanded by users, that should help you keep your messages secure and enhance your privacy online.

1. Leave Groups Silently on WhatsApp

Starting later in August 2022, it will be possible to exit a WhatsApp group privately without alerting everyone in the group. Instead, only the admins will be notified.

This will definitely eliminate the drama or embarrassment that comes with leaving a group, and the inevitable DMs from people wanting to know why you abandoned them. If you are like this writer, who likes to leave a party quietly, this feature will be a welcome relief.

2. Choose Who Can See When You're Online on WhatsApp

WhatsApp started by letting everyone see when you are online. Then, it made it possible to hide your online status from everyone. Then, it made it so that only people who are in your contacts list, and people you have messaged with before, could see you online.

Now WhatsApp will make it possible for you to pick and choose who can and can't see when you are online. One can only hope that those among your friends and family that you haven't white-listed into this exclusive club won't take offense.

3. Screenshot Blocking For WhatsApp's View Once Messages

View Once, or disappearing photos, is a feature that has become popular for a wide array of reasons, not the least of which is that it goes a long way in preventing revenge porn by jilted lovers who happen to have your private photos. However, there was always the risk that someone could screenshot the disappearing photo.

WhatsApp will now enable screenshot blocking for View Once messages for an added layer of protection. This feature is currently undergoing testing. WhatsApp is yet to announce when it will go live.

Why Has WhatsApp Rolled Out These Privacy Features?

According to a post on Meta Newsroom, these three new features on WhatsApp will give you more control with added interlocking layers of protection.

However, People Magazine reports that these changes are in part driven by a new WhatsApp global privacy report that found:

72% of people value being able to speak in an honest and unfiltered way, with 45% not being able to engage without doing so safely and 59% worried that their private messages will be shared without their knowledge or consent.

One also cannot underestimate the impact of increasing legal scrutiny of big tech by regulators and courts. The more secure the app can make itself, the more liability and negative publicity it avoids from future, undetermined, legal suits related to crime or abuses perpetrated on the app.

Also, WhatsApp prides itself on its end-to-end encryption, and it is surely aware of the need to mitigate the competitive threat from other platforms like Signal, which have very robust privacy protections as well.

Wait a Few Weeks to Use WhatsApp's Latest Privacy Features

WhatsApp has pointed out that these features are still undergoing tests and are not yet live on the app, so do not be frustrated when you cannot find them.

We are willing to wait because these features will certainly improve your WhatsApp experience, not to mention safety.