WhatsApp announced the Advanced Chat Privacy feature, which adds a new layer of security to specific chats. The feature prevents chat exports, auto-downloading media, and interactions with Meta AI. WhatsApp also notifies participants when admins change this privacy setting.
| Common questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Name of the feature? | Advanced chat privacy |
| Status? | Rolling out |
| Compatibility? | The most recent versions of WhatsApp for Android and iOS are compatible updates. |
| I have updated my version of WhatsApp but I don't have this feature. Why? | This feature will be available to more users over the coming weeks. |
| Previous news? | WhatsApp for iOS 25.12.73: what's new? WhatsApp is rolling out a feature to remove deleted messages from quoted replies! |
WhatsApp was testing the Advanced Chat Privacy option
In the article about the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.12.21 update, we announced the Advanced Chat Privacy option. This feature will let users prevent media from being automatically saved to their device gallery. With this option, users won't be able to export the entire conversation. In addition, WhatsApp doesn't allow interaction with Meta AI in these chats.
WhatsApp announces Advanced Chat Privacy
In the latest blog post, WhatsApp is finally announcing the Advanced Chat Privacy feature. It is a new layer of privacy beyond the standard end-to-end encryption. This feature helps users prevent certain interactions in specific chats. It is currently available to some users who install the latest updates of WhatsApp for Android and iOS.
How Advanced Chat Privacy increases user privacy
WhatsApp says that Advanced Chat Privacy can help users keep their conversations more secure. It limits how participants in the conversation can share information outside of the app. In particular, users can prevent others in the conversation from exporting chats. Forwards are still allowed, but users cannot export the full chat. In addition, media is not automatically saved to the device gallery. Users cannot even interact with Meta AI when this feature is enabled.
How Advanced Chat Privacy increases user privacy
If users enable Advanced Chat Privacy, the conversation is less likely to leave WhatsApp in bulk. For example, other participants won't be able to export the full conversation or have the media saved to their device automatically. Likewise, messages in those chats will not be available for Meta AI to reference or respond to. By limiting what others can do with the chat, participants can communicate with greater privacy.
How to enable Advanced Chat Privacy
Users can activate Advanced Chat Privacy directly from the chat info screen. The option is available for both individual chats and group conversations, and users can decide where it makes sense to enable it. Whenever the feature is turned on or off, WhatsApp automatically sends a system message within the chat to notify others about the change. This helps ensure transparency, making everyone aware when someone adjusted the level of privacy. For example, if someone disables advanced chat privacy, others in the chat will see a notification about this event.
WhatsApp keeps working on improving Advanced Chat Privacy
WhatsApp confirmed that this is the first version of the feature. This means that WhatsApp plans to addi new capabilities to further strengthen user privacy. Note that message forwarding and screenshots are still allowed for now. At this stage, WhatsApp focuses on protecting the context and flow of the entire conversation rather than restricting individual actions completely.
WhatsApp kid rolling out Advanced Chat Privacy on Android and iOS
This feature is available to some users who install the latest update from the App Store and Google Play. Since WhatsApp is gradually rolling out this functionality, it is still not available to everyone. This means it may take some time before the feature becomes available in your chats and groups.
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