Stiftung Warentest has taken a closer look at WhatsApp and recommends settings that users can use to protect their privacy.
Here's what to look out for.
WhatsApp has come under fire due to a new privacy policy in recent weeks.
In Europe, nothing will change initially due to the GDPR.
Stiftung Warentest * recommends three settings to better protect privacy in the app.
Munich - WhatsApp is the so far unbeaten top dog on the messenger market.
The app is free, quick and easy to use and that is probably why it is so popular with many users.
But when you use the app comfortably, you quickly forget privacy and the protection of your own data.
Stiftung Warentest has now taken a closer look at the popular messenger service and recommends three important settings to users.
WhatsApp: Stiftung Warentest recommends these three settings
After downloading WhatsApp, each new user must first provide a mobile phone number, name and, if necessary, a profile picture.
What is unfortunately not immediately clear: Anyone who has your phone number can also see your profile picture.
To prevent this, an extra setting is required.
To do this, you have to
call up
the
settings
in the app
.
To do this, open the app and select the three dots in the upper right corner.
Then first select the
Account
tab
and then
Data Protection
.
You have a number of choices below.
To limit the visibility of your profile picture, select the
Profile picture
option
.
Now you can decide whether
everyone
, your
contacts
or
nobody will
see your profile picture.
Stiftung Warentest / Whatsapp: restrict access to photos and contacts
In the same control panel you can select other settings that increase your privacy protection.
For one thing, you can decide here who sees when you last opened WhatsApp *.
Under the
Last online
option
, you can choose whether
everyone
can only
see
your
contacts
or no
one
at all
when you were last online.
This feature does not show the time and date when someone goes to your chat.
But you cannot see the time and date of other users, regardless of whether the user has selected the option or not.
Finally, Stiftung Warentest recommends deactivating the read receipt.
This setting can also be selected under the
Data Protection
tab
.
If you decide to deactivate the read receipt, the blue ticks will no longer appear.
Only the two gray ticks are displayed, which signal that the message has been sent and reached the recipient.
In addition, you could revoke the app's authorization to track the location or to prevent access to photos and videos.
To do this, you have to
open
the
settings
on your Android smartphone, type
in
"Manage
apps
"
in the search bar
and call up WhatsApp.
Under the
App permissions
option
, you can decide which functions the app is allowed to access.
The good news is: Many users are now sensitized to the subject of data protection.
When the company recently wanted to update its data protection rules, a storm of indignation broke out around the world.
(
phf
)
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