In order to offer more privacy to its users, WhatsApp should soon integrate a security function to hide certain conversations and lock access to them using a PIN code or biometric recognition.
Meta continues to secure WhatsApp, its fully encrypted instant messenger, by adding new security features. After announcing new privacy options for group chats and the sending of ephemeral voices – they can only be heard once – the company is preparing to add the possibility of locking access to certain conversations. , and even to hide them. Indeed, the specialized site WABetaInfo discovered a new option in this direction in a beta of the Android application. Thus, this new protection system will make it possible to block access to messages and multimedia content (photos, videos, documents) from discussions using a PIN code or biometric recognition (fingerprint sensor or facial recognition). An additional layer of security to protect your sensitive data! If it is confirmed, the integration of this function will make it possible to hide conversations more easily and more effectively than with the trick used until now by those who wish to keep certain discussions secret (see our practical sheet).
WhatsApp private conversations: lock your chats individually
To lock access to a conversation, you must go to the information of the discussion. Once this is done, the latter is moved to a separate section containing all private conversations. To open it, you must therefore enter a PIN code or go through a biometric recognition. Not only are messages hidden, but so are media files (photos, videos, audio files, etc.) in the chat, which aren’t automatically saved to the device’s gallery. Finally, if someone tries to access the smartphone and fails authentication too many times, they will be prompted to clear the chat to open it. All history will be lost, but nothing will be disclosed.
WhatsApp has already offered a fairly similar function since 2019 which allows you to completely lock the opening of the application. At first, it was only available on the iPhone, where you had to unlock the application using Touche ID, the device’s fingerprint sensor, or Face ID, its facial recognition module. At the end of 2019, WhatsApp had introduced this function on Android smartphones. However, this new option is more practical since it allows you to lock individual chats rather than the entire application – which is a shame when there are only one or two discussions to protect. For the moment, it is still under development and no deployment date has been advanced.