WhatsApp further strengthens the privacy protection of its users. Meta, the parent company of messaging with two billion followers, announced Monday the launch of a new feature. Dubbed Chat Lock, the option allows users to lock and hide certain conversations.
The principle is simple. Users select the conversations they want to hide. These exchanges are then removed from the main inbox and placed in a specific folder, locked by a password or biometric identification system. Additional security, notifications are also hidden. The receipt of a new message does not result in its automatic display on the smartphone screen.
Rolling out in France
"We believe this feature will be ideal if you share your phone with a family member, or when someone else is using your phone at the exact moment you receive a special message," WhatsApp said in a statement.
According to information from Le Parisien, the feature is "being rolled out in France". However, the company specifies that in the coming months, this option will be improved and will allow, among other things, to use a password different from the phone's lock code.
Chat Lock joins the long list of features on WhatsApp meant to improve the app's privacy policy, such as "end-to-end encryption and encrypted backups, ephemeral messages, or the ability to block screenshots for certain messages and hide its login status."