WhatsApp adds new feature to lock private chats with biometrics

Instant messaging giant WhatsApp says users around the world will soon be able to lock some of their intimate chats on the application using either a password or face or fingerprint biometrics.

The Meta-owned company announced in a blog post recently that it is introducing the ‘Chat Lock’ feature “which lets you protect your most intimate conversations behind one more layer of security.”

A hint about the new feature first dropped early in April.

The messaging platform has more than two billion users in over 180 countries around the world.

“Locking a chat takes that thread out of the inbox and puts it behind its own folder that can only be accessed with your device password or biometric, like a fingerprint. It also automatically hides the contents of that chat in notifications, too,” the company says.

WhatsApp believes the feature will be welcomed by people who let others use or hold their phones from time to time.

The company adds that more options will be included to Chat Lock as the months go by “including locking for companion devices and creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a unique password different from the one you use for your phone.”

Chat Lock is one of four new features WhatsApp its adding to its platform.

Before this Chat Lock novelty, WhatsApp users were able to lock or unlock the application using biometrics, but not individual chat threads.

Regulators are also beginning to consider the need for digital ID verification on social media, as in Vietnam.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  data protection  |  face biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  Meta  |  WhatsApp