WhatsApp's Upcoming Feature Will Stop Users From Exporting Chats

WhatsApp is working on a feature that will prevent users from exporting their chats with others without permission. The new “advanced chat privacy” tool is currently in testing, accessible only to beta users on iOS. However, an Android counterpart is also in the works.

According to WABetaInfo, the latest WhatsApp beta version on iOS will put a privacy wall when a user tries to export chats with their contacts outside of the app. Currently, exporting chats to a text file is a simple task and can be performed with just a click of a button on Android and iOS. However, the new privacy barrier will give individual users or those in a group chat an option to stop chat exports.

Once turned on, no unauthorised exports will be allowed outside of WhatsApp. The tool will also keep images and videos in a conversation from getting saved automatically on others’ devices. However, it is unclear if media files can be saved manually without permission.

According to the report, members of a group chat will be notified once one of them turns on the advanced chat privacy setting. This could help everyone in the group have an idea of whether they can export chats.

The new advanced chat privacy setting will also allow users to disable the Meta AI chatbot, which answers questions and generates AI images. There is no way to turn the feature off currently.

While the upcoming feature will enhance the privacy of chats outside of the app, users can continue to forward messages, including images and videos, to other chats. The feature will also likely not stop users from taking screenshots of messages. The better way to tackle these loopholes is to use disappearing messages.

The new advanced privacy setting is expected to become widely available in future app updates on iOS and Android.

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