WhatsApp hides the last visit from anonymous people by default
WhatsApp hides people online and their last visit from anonymous users by default.
WhatsApp Messenger has recently taken a different approach to user privacy and introduced a new mechanism for the “last visit” feature. In the past, this feature was configured to allow anyone to join the messenger for the first time, their last visit was visible to everyone, and the user could later change it from “everyone” to “audience” after setting up. In a new way, the last visit of users is hidden from anonymous accounts with whom no conversation has taken place so far, and does not even show that you are online.
According to the WABetaInfo website, new changes have been activated in some accounts, and users have reported that many people’s last visit has been hidden from them. However, even if you have someone on your contact list; But if that person has not saved you and chatted with you, you will not be able to see their last visit. WhatsApp responded to a user with a reason for this action:
In order to improve the privacy and security of our users, we have made it more difficult for you to see the status of your last visit and being online on WhatsApp from the point of view of people you do not know and have not chatted with. This will not change anything about your chats with your friends, family and business and the people you have already chatted with.
WhatsApp’s latest move appears to be to crack down on third-party apps that track users’ recent visits from online and save their reports. Users used these tools to see the latest activity of people who hid their last visit to WhatsApp. Now with the new WhatsApp mechanism, the possibility of users monitoring the tools is removed.
Privacy has become a key issue for WhatsApp in 2021, and these messengers are increasingly focused on developing and improving security features and enhancing privacy. Last week, WhatsApp made it possible to set a default time for automatic deletion of all messages. On the other hand, the possibility of hiding the last visit from certain audiences is also being tested.
WhatsApp was fined $260 million by the European Union a few months ago for violating its privacy policy, and its parent company, Meta, was widely criticized for lacking transparency in how users collect and share data with Facebook.
