WhatsApp groups continue to connect family, friends, coworkers, classmates and more. As people turn to groups for important conversations, users have asked for more control over their experience. Today, WhatsApp is introducing a new privacy setting and invite system to help you decide who can add you to groups.
How to Enable it
To enable it, go to Settings in your app, then tap Account > Privacy > Groups and select one of three options: “Everyone,” “My Contacts,” or “My Contacts Except.”
“My Contacts” means only users you have in your address book can add you to groups and “My Contacts Except” provides additional control for who among your contacts can add you to a group.
In cases where an admin can’t add you to a group, they will be prompted to send a private invite through an individual chat. You’ll have three days to accept the invite before it expires.
Available in a Few Days
With these new features, users will have more control over the group messages they receive. These new privacy settings will begin rolling out to some users starting today and will be available worldwide in the coming days.
“With WhatsApp increasingly playing an integral part in the way communities connect, communicate and even perform their professional functions, it is becoming essential that consumers’ privacy and safety concerns are taken more seriously. Developing new ways to increase consumers’ control is a positive step. We appreciate WhatsApp’s efforts to give agency to its consumers and hope that as its influence grows, WhatsApp continues to recognize its responsibilities and will continue to empower consumers with tools that help them define their own information experience in an active and informed manner. “-Sadaf Khan, Director, Media Matters for Democracy.
Telegram & Signal provide real privacy to its Users. Whatsapp is owned by Facebook, the biggest enemy of privacy.