>> A Privacy Setting that WhatsApp Needs

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A Privacy Setting that WhatsApp Needs

On June 15, 2022, Meta’s messaging service WhatsApp announced the rollout of several new privacy-related features. These features centre around users being able to control who can view their information and activity online, specifically, giving the user control over who from their contact list can view their Profile Photo, About, Last Seen, and Online status (WhatsApp, 2022).

In the digital age we are living in, the right to privacy is one that I champion and will continue to advocate for. While these new features will give users more control over their privacy, more must be done, specifically on WhatsApp, with over 2 billion active users worldwide (Dixon, 2022).

WhatsApp has indeed taken action to support the claim that “privacy and security is in [their] DNA” (WhatsApp, 2022). In 2016 WhatsApp added the security feature of end-to-end encryption to the messaging services (Isaac, 2016). While this is a crucial security feature, it has been critiqued, especially in the Global South, for “facilitating the spread of false information, hate speech, and hoaxes” (Pereira, 2022). There has also been action to increase privacy options for users. However, within these privacy controls, there are some shocking missing features, even now. For example, there is no control on who can see your Name on WhatsApp. If you have a WhatsApp account, the current version of WhatsApp still doesn’t have the privacy option to hide the Name associated with your account from other WhatsApp users (even if they are not in your contacts).

whatsapp privacy settings, last seen is set to everyone, profile photo is set to everyone, about is set to everyone, groups is set to everyone, status is set to my contacts, live location is set to none, and there are 50 contacts blocked.

WhatsApp handles every mobile number as a user and automatically connects the users contact list from their device. Because of this, one might expect a strong connection between privacy settings on the phone and in the app, but that is not necessarily the case.

A couple of months ago I was sitting in my friend’s car — the car is actually registered to his grandmother, but it is his car. And that is important because, at the time, the car window was broken, and we were trying to get it fixed at the shop through insurance. To do that, we needed to show documents from his grandmother to prove ownership.

It is 2022; his grandmother has a cell phone, she has WhatsApp, and her phone has a camera. We thought this would be pretty straightforward. He called her — it was a Monday afternoon, and she was out with a friend. He told her what happened to the car and that she needed to send a photo of an identification document. Straightforward, easy, and she knew what to do. We received a picture in about 5 minutes. However, here we hit the first road bump; the images she sent weren’t super clear and it looked like a device issue rather than a user issue. Fine, we can figure this out. Maybe her friend can try. So he calls again and asks the friend to send a picture.

This was when it got messy, adding a new contact, starting a chat in WhatsApp, you know you have to add the contact first or go through a link or scan someone’s code, and we weren’t dealing with tech-savvy Gen Z kids, nor were we beside them to provide 1-on-1 support, but we could be patient. After a couple of minutes of clearly stating his number, he realized the process could be improved so he asked for the friend’s number. By doing this she wouldn’t have to go through those steps of starting the conversation, and she would just need to reply with a photo. After getting her number verbally, he quickly started a chat and sent a message. It didn’t go through. He asked for the number again, confirmed it multiple times, and sent more test messages. Still, single grey checkmarks on WhatsApp sat at the bottom right of the message bubbles.

We had no idea what the problem was. Was her phone switched on? Yes — Was her phone connected to the internet or a mobile data network? We hope so — Did she have WhatsApp on her phone? Yes — Was he already somehow blocked? It seemed like it.

After about 15 minutes of troubleshooting, she managed to add him as a contact on her phone, and then everything changed. We watched all the single grey checkmarks from the test messages receive a partner checkmark and finally turn blue. We didn’t wait much longer, and then we received a clear photo of his grandmother’s document. My friend forwarded it to the car shop in a matter of seconds and then we could continue with our day.

screenshots of whatsapp messages being sent and not being delivered, or read and then how they appear after they are sent, delivered and read

I found this quite interesting though, how her WhatsApp didn’t receive a message from someone who was not her contact. Unfortunately, this isn’t yet a privacy setting on WhatsApp, so was her phone somehow creating this setting that WhatsApp doesn’t even offer? It was probably a combination of factors that led to the illusion of this feature, but it made me think about what if that was a privacy setting, and what if this design decision was the default?

After thinking about it for some more time, I thought that maybe her device had the “Silence Unknown Callers” feature on iPhone switched on (Apple Support, 2021). This privacy feature sends incoming calls from numbers not saved as contacts directly to voicemail and then lists the calls on a call list. This privacy feature is relatively new, having been deployed only first in the fall of 2019, and works on iOS 13 and later. Similar features exist on Android devices, but these user settings do not transfer to WhatsApp, similar to the way that if you block a contact on WhatsApp they are not blocked on your device and vice-versa.

Image of iPhone settings that show the Silence Unknown Callers option switched on

There needs to be a feature on WhatsApp that blocks unknown calls and texts or WhatsApp should inherit the device’s settings. Furthermore, there should also be a privacy interaction that reminds users to block contacts, both on the user’s WhatsApp and the user’s device. These privacy features are urgent for all users.

Getting messages and calls from unknown numbers can be amusing to some, but for others, they can be quite unsettling. A friend of mine in Toronto, who is originally from China, often receives messages from unknown numbers on WhatsApp. Most of the messages were just annoying, as she always had to go through the process of blocking the number after getting their messages, but some of the messages included information that was a little too specific. These messages caused feelings of fear and caused Sandra to think about deleting WhatsApp.

Two screenshots of WhatsApp conversations from unsaved numbers. First conversation consists of a single message from an unknown contact asking “do you speak Chinese”, second conversation consists of two messages from an unknown contact asking “Hello, are you in Toronto? Your friend asked me to bring you a set of makeup from LA? How should I give it to you” and then the message “hi, please reply, I will try to find a way to you as soon as possible”. Both conversations end with blocking the number

Aside from unknown numbers sending messages, known numbers and contacts can also harass users through WhatsApp by being able to create new accounts with new phone numbers, and by adding the victim’s number to spam lists or to other harmful places. Children too would be better protected by this feature and harmful messages such as cyberbullying, harassment, and strangers messaging from group chats could be prevented. For all users, scams and fake news could also be more easily avoided. Moreover, for my friend’s grandmother’s friend, this feature would continue to make her make sure she is contacting and sending sensitive files to the correct person.

By having a privacy feature that allows users to block unknown calls and messages on WhatsApp, Meta will be able to better protect its users and allow users to interact online with people they truly want to interact with online. This is a privacy setting that WhatsApp needs to add urgently. The fundamental human right of privacy must be centred in the digital age it must be designed and presented to the user as default settings to prevent harm.

Reference List

Apple Support: Detect and block spam phone calls (2021) Available at: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT207099 (Accessed: July 3, 2022).

Dixon, S. (2022) Statista WhatsApp — Statistics & Facts. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/2018/whatsapp/ (Accessed: July 3, 2022).

Isaac, M. (2016) WhatsApp Introduces End-to-End Encryption, The New York Times (Online), April 5. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/technology/whatsapp-messaging-service-introduces-full-encryption.html (Accessed: July 3, 2022).

Pereira, G. Bueno Bojczuk Camargo, I. and Parks, L. (2022) ‘WhatsApp disruptions in Brazil: A content analysis of user and news media responses, 2015–2018’, Global Media and Communication, 18(1), pp. 113–148. doi: 10.1177/17427665211038530.

WhatsApp. (2022) [Twitter] June 15, 2022. Available at: https://twitter.com/WhatsApp/status/1537213566717075456 (Accessed: July 3, 2022).

WhatsApp. (2022) WhatsApp Security. Available at: https://www.whatsapp.com/security (Accessed: July 3, 2022).