WHATSAPP is making it harder for strangers to snoop on you.
The US chat app this week began rolling out an update that stops people who aren’t in your contacts from seeing your “last seen” status by default.
1
“Last seen” is the timestamp that appears on your WhatsApp profile and chats to show when you most recently opened the app.
It’s possible to hide it in your WhatsApp settings, but until now it was visible to everyone by default.
Following the update, only contacts and those you’ve chatted with will see your status, keeping when you last used the app a secret from all but your contacts.
News of the change emerged on social media on Monday after users reported that people’s “last seen” statuses were no longer appearing on the app.
One user wrote on Twitter: “Is there anyone who is facing the same problem like me i cant see anyone’s last seen”.
After a separate user contacted customer support, the mystery was solved.
Most read in News Tech
They posted a screenshot of what appeared to be an email from WhatsApp explaining that the app’s rules around last seen had changed.
“We’re making it harder for people you don’t know and haven’t chatted with from seeing your last seen and online presence on WhatsApp,” the email reads.
Previously, users were able to choose whether last seen was visible to Everyone, My Contacts or Nobody.
Selecting Nobody meant that, while your last seen was hidden from everyone, you were unable to see anyone else’s timestamp.
WhatsApp previously had the default option set to Everyone. It is now set to My Contacts as standard.
The company has not publicly confirmed the change. The Sun has reached out to WhatsApp for comment.
The app has made a number of changes in recent weeks to firm up user privacy.
Last week, it announced that it was expanding its disappearing messages feature that ensures they vanish after a set period.
Users can now set texts to self-destruct after 24 hours, seven days or 90 days. You can also now set all of your messages to disappear by default.
I’m a tech whizz and I’ve found three TikTok WhatsApp tricks that will blow your mind
In other news, Samsung is reportedly killing off its beloved Note smartphone after more than a decade.
Apple has announced that it will let customers fix their own iPhones for the first time starting next year.
The UK is fighting an epidemic of hack attacks targeting consumers and businesses, according to officials.
And, NASA has slammed Russia after a missile it fired into one of its own satellites forced the space station to perform an emergency swerve.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
