WhatsApp's New Feature Prevents Anyone from Exporting Your Chats Without Permission

WhatsApp has announced Advanced Chat Privacy, a new set of features that increase user privacy by allowing users to restrict chat exports. WhatsApp users can prevent people they chat with from exporting chats outside of the app. Another feature allows users to turn off the Meta AI bot in the app.

Chat exports

The Advanced Chat Privacy has a toggle, which, when turned on, stops anyone from taking your chat outside of the app. It works for both one-on-one and group chats. For group chats, exports will not be allowed even if one member has turned the privacy setting on. In other words, you cannot save conversations as a text file outside of the app unless you are authorised by the person you have had the chat with.

No auto-downloads

You can also turn off auto-downloading of media files on a recipient’s phone as part of this functionality. Normally, when the auto-download setting is turned on, every photo and video you receive is automatically downloaded to the phone. So even if they are deleted from the chat, they stay on your phone. The new feature puts a restriction on that, barring users from having photos and videos sent by you saved on their phone automatically.

Loophole?

However, forwarding messages and taking screenshots of the media files continue to work. WhatsApp’s new features cannot fully protect your chats or media from being accessed by other parties, but they are likely to discourage such attempts by putting a barrier. WhatsApp said it will add more features to Advanced Chat Privacy in the coming weeks, with the initial rollout focused on restricting chat exports and auto-downloads of media files. It also allows you to turn off Meta AI in chats.

WhatsApp said Advanced Chat Privacy has now begun rolling out and will reach all users globally in the coming days.

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