WhatsApp unveils Enhanced Chat Confidentiality for safeguarding sensitive discussions

WhatsApp introduces Enhanced Chat Confidentiality to protect sensitive communications

Pierluigi Paganini
April 24, 2025

WhatsApp introduces Enhanced Chat Confidentiality feature allowing users to restrict outsiders from sharing chat content beyond the app.

WhatsApp has unveiled a new feature named “Enhanced Chat Confidentiality” for both individual and group chats that elevates content security. This feature inhibits chat exports, automatic media downloads, and the utilization of messages in AI functions, ensuring that conversations remain private and contained within the app.

“We are thrilled to announce our newest privacy level called “Enhanced Chat Confidentiality.” This fresh setting accessible in chats and groups helps to prevent others from extracting content outside of WhatsApp for an added layer of privacy.” mentioned in the company’s announcement. “By activating this setting, you can prevent others from exporting chats, downloading media automatically to their device, and utilizing messages for AI capabilities. This assures everyone involved in the chat that confidentiality is maintained within the chat platform.”

Users can activate Enhanced Chat Confidentiality by selecting the chat name and opting for the new feature. The company has announced that this feature will be gradually distributed in the latest WhatsApp version, with further upgrades in the pipeline.

“WhatsApp groups serve as extensions of our real-life networks, some being closer than others. This feature applies best to groups where participants might not be intimately known but involve discussions of a sensitive nature, like health issues in a support group or community organization for a significant cause.” as stated in the announcement.

Since October 2024, WhatsApp has rolled out Identity Proof Linked Storage (IPLS), an encoded system that links contact lists to user profiles, facilitating secure synchronization across various devices and averting contact loss during device transitions.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, privacy)

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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