Meta has announced the release of a new WhatsApp privacy feature known as ‘Chat Lock,’ which enables users to lock their most personal conversations, thus preventing others from accessing them. Chat Lock will create a new folder that can be secured using a password or biometric methods such as a fingerprint.
After tapping the name of a one-to-one or group chat, the lock option can be selected to ensure the privacy of the conversation.
WhatsApp noted that “locking a chat takes that thread out of your inbox and puts it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with your device’s password or biometric, like a fingerprint”.
Additionally, the feature will automatically hide the details of the locked chat in notifications, preventing others from snooping in while using the phone.
The company believes that this feature will be ideal for individuals who share their phones from time to time with family members or during occasions when someone else holds their phone when an extra-special chat arrives.
To access locked chats, users can gently pull down on their inbox and authenticate themselves with the password or biometric identification used when locking the conversation.
WhatsApp stated that it plans to enhance the Chat Lock capabilities further to provide users with more features, such as locks specifically designed for companion devices and the ability to establish personalized passwords for their chats. This would allow users to use a unique password separate from their phone credentials.
WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta, has noted that the instant messaging and video calling platform is now used by over two billion people worldwide. WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encryption seven years ago and later began rolling out end-to-end encrypted chat backups for iOS and Android in October 2021 to prevent access to backed-up chat content.
In December 2021, WhatsApp added default disappearing messages to all new chats, expanding the platform’s privacy control features.
