WhatsApp started working on a new privacy setting last year that allowed users to hide their profile photos, last seen, and About info from specific people in their contacts lists. Its availability was limited since it was in beta, but the company has announced that it’s finally rolling out to all its users across the globe on iPhone and Android devices.
🔒 To further protect your privacy online, we’re rolling out new options to your privacy control settings 🔒
Now you can select who from your contact list can see your Profile Photo, About, and Last Seen status. For more information follow this link: https://t.co/UGMCx2n70h
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) June 15, 2022
Until now, you had three privacy options for your profile photo, last seen, and About info – Everyone, My contacts, and Nobody. These are joined by a fourth option called “My contacts except…” which is also available for Status privacy.
WhatsApp’s new privacy setting is rolling out for all
As the name suggests, the new option allows you to show your WhatsApp profile photo, last seen, and About info to people in your contacts list except those you exclude. But it’s worth noting that if you don’t share your last seen with others, you won’t be able to see theirs either, just like read receipts, with the only difference being that the latter always remains on for group chats even when you have turned it off.
You can head over to WhatsApp’s Settings > Account > Privacy menu on iPhone and Android devices to try this new privacy control.
In addition to widely rolling out a new privacy control, WhatsApp also announced a few group calling features, allowing users to mute others during a group call while also being able to message specific people. You will also see a banner when someone joins a group call offscreen.
Some new features for group calls on @WhatsApp: You can now mute or message specific people on a call (great if someone forgets to mute themselves!), and we’ve added a helpful indicator so you can more easily see when more people join large calls. pic.twitter.com/fxAUCAzrsy
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) June 16, 2022
