WhatsApp Tests a Setting That Lets You Choose Who Sees Your Phone Number
WhatsApp is testing a new privacy setting that gives users granular control over who can see their phone number, building on the username feature it introduced earlier this year.
WhatsApp Tests a Setting That Lets You Choose Who Sees Your Phone Number
WhatsApp is testing a new privacy setting that gives users granular control over who can see their phone number, building on the username feature it introduced earlier this year.
WhatsApp introduced its Username feature in June. It has not been fully rolled out yet, but users can already reserve their usernames. Usernames were introduced with a focus on privacy, so users can communicate without knowing each other's phone numbers.
Building on that, WhatsApp is now testing a feature that gives users granular control over who can see their phone number.
Four visibility options
The finding comes from WABetaInfo, which discovered the development in beta version 2.26.45.1 of WhatsApp for Android.
The new privacy feature offers four visibility options: Everyone, My contacts, My contacts except..., and Nobody. These let users decide who can see their phone number in calls and chats.
The feature will only be available to users who have a username. Anyone who already knows your phone number will continue to see it in calls and chats.
Under the current setup, WhatsApp automatically hides your phone number from people who contact you via your username. With the new feature, the default visibility option will be "Nobody," so users who want their number hidden will not need to change anything; users who want people to see their number — for business or other purposes — can change the setting.
Still in development
The feature is still under development and is not available even to beta users. Readers can only wait for WhatsApp to release it on the beta channel, followed by a public release.
Sources
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