WhatsApp to block capture of 'view once messages'

Meta-owned WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that will block the capture of a screenshot of 'view once messages' that disappear after the receiver reads them, the company said on Tuesday.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, announced a new privacy feature in Whatsapp, giving users the ability to leave a group chat secretly and make the online presence visible to people of their choice.

Privacy features are coming to WhatsApp: exit group chats without notifying everyone, control who can see when you're online, and prevent screenshots on view once messages. Zuckerberg said in a statement that they'll keep building ways to protect messages and keep them private and secure as face-to-face conversations.

WhatsApp has introduced 'view once messages' which self-destruct after the receiver reads them. The receiver takes a screenshot of the message, which gives users the option of not wanting to have a permanent digital record of their message.

WhatsApp is enabling screenshot blocking for View Once messages for an added layer of protection. The statement said that this feature is being tested and will be rolled out to users soon.

According to WhatsApp privacy research, 72 per cent of respondents think that they are able to speak in an honest, unfiltered way but more than 47 per cent are only comfortable doing this in a safe, private space.

They are particularly cautious online, ranking privacy in their private messages as the most important compared to emails, texts or social media.

According to the study, 51 per cent of respondents prefer to stay hidden online to decide who they want to talk to and 91 percent of people who are aware of blocking features believe they are important.

The silent leaving of group feature will allow users to exit a group privately without having to notify everyone. Only the admins will be notified if a member has left the group and the feature will gradually be available to all users this month.

The head of product Ami Vora said that WhatsApp has added layers of protection to keep user's conversations secure over the years.

No other messaging service at this scale provides this level of security for their users' messages, media, voice messages, video calls, and chat backups. We believe that WhatsApp is the most secure place to have a private conversation.

We are starting a global campaign, starting with the UK and India, to educate people about how we work to protect their private conversations on WhatsApp, Vora said.