WhatsApp’s New Group Privacy Settings: Everything You Need to Know about Facebook’s Instant Messaging App
The big picture: WhatsApp is rolling out new group privacy and invite system that will stop group admins to add people into a group without their consent.
The new privacy settings for WhatsApp groups give users control over whether they want people to add them to groups or not; helping prevent spam group invites that have been a pain point for many users.
At present, anyone can add you to a group; as a result, people often find themselves added to random groups, without their explicit permission.
However, the new privacy and invite settings would change all that and users will now be able to decline being added to groups they do not wish to join.
For now, the new group feature is available in v2.19.93 beta for Android, and the v2.19.40.26 beta for iOS apps to some selected users.
The new privacy settings for group invites has been announced for the stable versions as well, and it will be rolled out globally in the coming weeks to those using the latest version of WhatsApp.
Group admins will have to send invites in order to add people to their groups; however, the user first will have to enable the option in the privacy settings. Here’s how it will work:
How to Enable the Privacy Settings For Group Invites?
WhatsApp group invite system is meant to help users choose who can add them to groups. To enable this new privacy feature, users need to go to the settings tab and tap Account > Privacy > Groups.
Here, the user will have the choice of limiting their privacy settings for Group invitation to the following three options:
- Everyone: This option won’t add any restriction and anyone inside or outside of your contact list can add you to a group.
- My Contacts: This means only the people in the user’s contact list will be able to add him to a group.
- Nobody: If you select the ‘Nobody’ option, no one will be able to add you in a group except through an invitation link. It means a user will have to approve the request every time he is invited to join a group. Users will have three days to respond before the invitation link expires.
Final Verdict
The new privacy settings and group invitation feature are not yet available; however, the upcoming WhatsApp updates are expected to unveil a lot of exciting features that are much awaited.
On that note, we have a good idea of what we can expect from WhatsApp, let’s wait for the final release which will likely to commence in the coming weeks.
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