To preserve their privacy and identity, WhatsApp has decided to block a function very popular with its users, but often abused by malicious personnel. A bad for a good !
One of the strong points of WhatsApp is the security that messaging offers you and the confidentiality that it ensures for your data. The application, in addition to being end-to-end encrypted, has a whole bunch of functions to protect your privacy. However, one of your essential data remains exposed: your profile photo.
This image not only allows friends and family to quickly identify you, but it also often serves as the first point of contact for forming new professional or personal connections. But, if you choose to post a photo of your face, you expose your image to the view of malicious people, who can use it for identity theft or harassment, for example.
To do this, they just need to download it. So of course, WhatsApp does not offer a specific button for this purpose, but it is possible, after clicking on the profile photo in question, to display it in large format. All you have to do is take a screenshot so that the photo is permanently stored in the smartphone’s memory. From there, it can be manipulated at will and used in any way.
But that will soon be a thing of the past! The WABetaInfo teams discovered, in a beta version of the iOS application, a new protection function. Thanks to it, when malicious people try to take a screenshot, they will see the following error message: “This app does not allow screenshots”. Simple but effective ! Obviously, smart people will always be able to take a photo of the screen with another device, but preventing capture directly from the application should discourage more than one person.
This feature, in development for several months now, should significantly improve user privacy and reduce the risks associated with unauthorized sharing and distribution of personal images. It is not currently available to the general public, but it should arrive in the coming weeks. In the meantime, to protect yourself, you can always restrict viewing your profile picture to contacts only or hide it completely.