{"id":7595,"date":"2026-06-30T16:35:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/what-privacy-settings-has-whatsapp-changed\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T16:35:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:35:27","slug":"what-privacy-settings-has-whatsapp-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/what-privacy-settings-has-whatsapp-changed\/","title":{"rendered":"What privacy settings has WhatsApp changed?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>The app said it will be rolling out usernames gradually, in a move meant to improve privacy.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Change is coming for some three billion users of the world\u2019s favourite messaging platform, WhatsApp.<\/p>\n<p>The social media app owned by Meta will allow users to be identified by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/30\/whatsapp-to-let-users-go-by-usernames-not-phone-numbers\">usernames instead of phone numbers<\/a>, it said on Monday. WhatsApp is used in more than 180 countries and 60 languages, the platform says.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/30\/whatsapp-to-let-users-go-by-usernames-not-phone-numbers\">WhatsApp to let users go by usernames, not phone numbers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/30\/social-media-calculator-how-much-of-your-life-is-spent-on-social-media\">Screen time calculator: How much of your life is spent on social media?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/17\/telegram-challenges-india-app-ban-calls-move-unconstitutional\">Telegram challenges India app ban, calls move unconstitutional<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Users will soon be able to reserve unique handles, with a wider rollout planned for later this year.<\/p>\n<p>The move is designed to improve privacy on the platform amid longstanding scrutiny over its data protection practices.<\/p>\n<p>So what is changing, and how can you grab a handle no one else has?<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-change-has-whatsapp-announced\">What change has WhatsApp announced?<\/h2>\n<p>Users will soon be able to swap the phone numbers displayed on WhatsApp with usernames, the company said. Under the new system, which will commence later this year, users will be able to choose to be \u201cfindable\u201d and contacted by their handles only.<\/p>\n<p>The app said it has already begun allowing some users to reserve unique usernames before a bigger rollout later this year.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"why-is-whatsapp-making-this-change\">Why is WhatsApp making this change?<\/h2>\n<p>The messaging platform said the change is designed to improve privacy features, for which it and its parent company <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/8\/meta-to-take-legal-action-against-israeli-spyware-company-nso\">Meta<\/a> have come under scrutiny in the past.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have designed this as a core privacy feature,\u201d Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp\u2019s vice president of product, told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>According to the company, there will be no public directory of usernames and no autocomplete suggestions, meaning users will need to know someone\u2019s exact username to reach them for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen someone new walks into your life \u2013 a classmate, a neighbour, someone you meet at an event \u2013 sharing a phone number can feel like a big step,\u201d a WhatsApp company blog post stated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s because a phone number is personal and it\u2019s tied to so many parts of your life. Sometimes you just want to chat without handing over your digits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The company told one user on X that it has added multiple new features to help users defend themselves from scammers.<\/p>\n<p>Optional username keys \u2013 or short numbered codes \u2013 can be added, which would mean people can only contact a user if they have both their username and its key, for example.<\/p>\n<p>WhatsApp also said it will limit the number of new people any one account can contact as a guard against spam accounts, and that its systems can now detect and block \u201cabuse patterns\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-will-the-new-usernames-work\">How will the new usernames work?<\/h2>\n<p>Companies, organisations and creators with existing accounts on Meta\u2019s other social media platforms \u2013 Instagram and Facebook \u2013 will have the opportunity to claim their usernames as handles on WhatsApp as well.<\/p>\n<p>Usernames will have to be three to 35 characters. To prevent impersonation, WhatsApp will hold back usernames for high-profile people or groups, such as celebrities, public figures and government entities.<\/p>\n<p>To reserve a specific username, WhatsApp said a user must download the latest version of WhatsApp, go to the Settings tab, the Account tab, and then the Username tab.<\/p>\n<p>The reservation must be done with a smartphone \u2013 it cannot be done on WhatsApp Web or Desktop.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"when-will-this-change-come-into-effect\">When will this change come into effect?<\/h2>\n<p>WhatsApp said it will roll out usernames gradually over the coming months and will notify users on WhatsApp when the new feature is available in their country. It has not given specific timelines.<\/p>\n<p>To be prepared, the company told users to \u201cmake sure you have the latest version of WhatsApp downloaded and keep an eye on your app\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-are-whatsapp-s-current-privacy-features\">What are WhatsApp\u2019s current privacy features?<\/h2>\n<p>WhatsApp\u2019s current privacy settings are limited to blocking individual users and silencing unknown callers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The app said it will be rolling out usernames gradually, in a move meant to improve privacy. Change is coming for some three billion users of the world\u2019s favourite messaging platform, WhatsApp. The social media app owned by Meta will allow users to be identified by usernames instead of phone numbers, it said on Monday. &#8230; <a title=\"What privacy settings has WhatsApp changed?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/what-privacy-settings-has-whatsapp-changed\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about What privacy settings has WhatsApp changed?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}