WhatsApp makes apps unusable for stalkers

WhatsApp regularly introduces new features designed to make the world’s largest and most important messenger safer. Even so, there were ways to spy on people. WhatsApp is now finally pulling the plug on these stalking apps.

WhatsApp rules out stalking apps

WhatsApp wants to strengthen the security of its users. The messenger is used by hundreds of millions of people every day and is of course an attractive destination for providers of certain services. For example, there are also stalking apps that can be used to monitor known or strangers. The “last online” status was read out for this purpose, because this can be seen by certain software, even if it has not been switched off manually. That is now the end (source: WABetaInfo).

WhatsApp support has also officially confirmed this (source: Twitter). Stranger contacts who somehow get your cell phone number, but which you neither know nor have ever been in contact with, can no longer see when you were last online, even if you haven’t changed the setting under data protection and actually show everyone your “last online” status.

This excludes all stalking apps for WhatsApp that do exactly that Have used the gap to create an “activity profile” for a user. Nothing changes for people who have been in contact before. So if you want to share your “last online” status with friends and family, you can of course continue to do so. WhatsApp only excludes unknown contacts who have used such apps to spy on you.

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WhatsApp automatically deletes messages

If you don’t want to keep your old chats, you can now set that the messages in new chats are automatically deleted after a certain period of time. This creates even more security and ensures that even if someone gets access to the cell phone, you simply cannot read the messages because they were automatically deleted.