WhatsApp has unveiled a new feature that will allow users to hide their "most intimate conversations" from prying eyes, Meta has said.
Chat Lock will "lock and hide" private messages to remove them from the main inbox. Selected exchanges will be moved to a secret folder only accessible with a password or fingerprint ID.
The parent company of the app announced the addition on Monday, as part of its worldwide launch, Wales Online reports. As it's currently being rolled out, the addition may not appear on your phone until its next update.
In a Facebook post, Chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg wrote: “New locked chats in WhatsApp make your conversations more private. They’re hidden in a password protected folder and notifications won’t show sender or message content.”
However the new privacy measures may intensify the stand-off between Meta and the UK government over the Online Safety Bill.
In April, Meta protested against the legislation, which it said would undermine the end-to-end encryption used by WhatsApp where only the sender and intended recipient of a message are able to read it.
The Government has denied the Bill would outlaw encrypted messaging, saying it aims to target child abuse content while retaining privacy online.
Tech companies who refuse to comply with the Government’s demands to identify and remove such content from their platforms could face large fines. In response to this, Meta threatened to withdraw WhatsApp from the UK last March rather than submit to the proposed policies.
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