[ODUNEWS] August 9 – Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced three new privacy features that will soon be rolled out on WhatsApp. In a bid to increase the protection of its users, the new updates will enable further control and limit the spread of messages.

 

 

In a post announcing the update, 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.”

 

The messaging platform said the new features aimed to keep improving the privacy around online conversations.

KEY FEATURES

 

• SILENT EXIT FEATURE

Currently, when a user leaves a group chat a notification appears at the bottom of the conversation telling others in the group who has left.

It means tactics such as muting group conversations to avoid awkward exit notifications or waiting to open messages to appear offline could soon be a thing of the past.

 

• VIEW ONCE FEATURE

Additionally, users will soon be able to control who can see their online status and they’ll be able to prevent screenshots being taken of photos sent on the app, through a new “view once” feature.

Users will also be given the ability to block people from taking screenshots of View Once messages, which are designed to disappear after being opened.

 

WhatsApp confirmed the screenshot blocking tool is being tested with plans to launch it soon.