WhatsApp Adds New Privacy Feature To Lock Sensitive Chats

WhatsApp has announced a new feature via its blog called “Chat Lock” that allows users to make their conversations more private. The tool can lock any conversation, placing it in a specialized folder accessible via fingerprint or face scanning biometrics or by entering a regular password. In addition, the new feature also hides references to locked chats from notification feeds.

To lock an existing conversation, users simply need to tap on the title of a person or group chat and select the lock option. When you want to read a locked chat, you’ll need to use your device’s biometric scanner to unlock it, or else enter a password.

WhatsApp notes that the feature is useful for keeping a chat private when “someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives” and advises that the entire app can also be locked using biometric security.

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WhatsApp owners Meta have been upgrading the platform for some time now, in a bid to convince users of the app’s safety as more and more people turn to rivals such as Signal and Telegram. Meta recently upgraded WhatsApp’s verification system to deter hackers and has added additional features, including disappearing messages.