New Privacy Features: Silence Unknown Callers and Privacy Checkups
WhatsApp introduces New Privacy Features has unveiled that automatically mutes calls from unfamiliar numbers. With over 500 million users in India, the chat app’s largest market, this move addresses the mounting complaints about a surge in spam calls. This feature aims to alleviate the annoyance caused by such calls, providing users with a quieter and more enjoyable communication experience.
On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg announced the call silencing feature and a new privacy checkup option. Mark Zuckerberg stated that WhatsApp enables automatic call silencing for unknown contacts, offering enhanced privacy and control.
Silence Unknown Callers:
Silence Unknown Callers
Users can navigate to Settings > Privacy > Calls to activate this feature and enable the “Silence unknown caller” option. Although WhatsApp automatically mutes calls from unknown numbers, they will still appear in notifications and the call list. This allows users to review later if the call was from someone they know but have yet to save their number in contacts, ensuring convenience alongside privacy measures.
Privacy Checkup:
Privacy CheckupWhen you receive a call from an unknown number, your phone will display the number and the message “silenced unknown number.” Additionally, WhatsApp now offers a privacy checkup feature in the Privacy section. This checkup guides users through steps that cover contact permissions, personal information control, chat privacy enhancements, and account protection. Through this process, users can modify settings like two-factor authentication, group invitation preferences, disappearing message timers, and profile picture visibility, giving them greater control over their privacy settings.
In a recent update, WhatsApp implemented backend enhancements to minimize spam calls for its Indian users. The company significantly bolstered its machine learning-powered detection capabilities, anticipating a 50% reduction in such calls.
