Meta-owned WhatsApp is enabling new privacy measures to prevent unknown users from checking your last seen and online status. This piece of information has been released by WABetaInfo on its official website. According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is making it harder for people who you don't know and have not chatted with from seeing your last seen and online presence on the instant messaging platform. And these privacy measures are effective for all WhatsApp contacts, including business accounts. WhatsApp Rolls Out Payments Background Feature in India, Here’s How To Use It.

As a reminder, WhatsApp already provides users with an option to hide their last seen. But as per WABetaInfo, there are several third-party apps on Google Play Store or App Store that can log the last seen and online status of select contacts. Several users and hackers use these apps to stalk to know when other people were online. To stop such activities, WhatsApp is enabling new privacy features.

WhatsApp will not show up the last seen and the online status if you have never chatted with another WhatsApp account and as those third-party apps don't have an active history with you, they will not be able to see your last seen and online status. WhatsApp has also promised that the privacy features will not change anything between you and your friends, family and businesses who you know or have previously messaged. It is worth noting that if you are not able to see the last seen of some contacts, it is because they have enabled the 'My Contacts Except' feature that is available to some users.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 13, 2021 04:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).