WhatsApp has rolled out a new privacy measure that will hide the “last seen” status from people you have not communicated with on the app before. Before the new update, the messaging app applied the preferred status for “everyone” by default. The new update means that only people who are added to your contacts list will be able to view your “last seen” status.
“To improve the privacy and security of our users, we’re making it harder for people you don’t know and haven’t chatted with from seeing your last seen and online presence on WhatsApp.” The company replied to a user who had posed a question about not being able to see the Last seen status of certain individuals.
“This will not change anything between you and your friends, family, and business who you know or have previously messaged,” Whatsapp added in the response.
Read: WhatsApp Testing ‘Undo’ Button for Status Updates
Previously, WhatsApp users could set their “last seen” status to be visible for contacts only, but it was not the default option, meaning one had to do it manually. Currently, users can also set their “last seen” to be visible to all contacts, as well as “nobody” which allows no one to view your status. In November, the company started testing a new feature that will allow users to hide their status from “everyone except…”, giving users a chance to hide their last seen from specific people.
Recently, WhatsApp also introduced a new feature that activates “disappearing messages’ by default for all new users.
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