New Delhi: WhatsApp on Wednesday announced a major change in its privacy settings, allowing users to decide who can add them to groups. Previously, any user could be added to a WhatsApp group without their consent.
Over 200 million people in India currently use WhatsApp.
“WhatsApp groups continue to connect family, friends, coworkers, classmates and more. As people turn to groups for important conversations, users have asked for more control over their experience. Today, we're introducing a new privacy setting and invite system to help you decide who can add you to groups," WhatsApp said in a blog post.
Users can enable the privacy setting choice by going to account, and then privacy and group and select one of the three options — Nobody, My Contacts, or Everyone. 'Nobody’ signifies that anyone can add that user to any group, In case of ‘My Contacts’, only people in the user's address book can his/her to groups. In those cases, the person inviting the user to a group will be prompted to send a private invite through an individual chat, giving him/her the choice of joining the group. The invite will expire in three days.
“With these new features, users will have more control over the group messages they receive," WhatsApp added.
The new privacy settings will begin rolling out to some users starting today and will be available worldwide in the coming weeks to those using the latest version of WhatsApp.
Among many other concerns around misinformation and privacy, the government had been asking WhatsApp to ensure users' consent before they are added to group chats.
WhatsApp recently announced the launch of an India-focused fact-checking feature to combat fake news and rumours in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. Users can now report uncertain information or rumours they have received on WhatsApp to (+91-9643-000-888) and check its authenticity. The initiative came shortly after Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, took down over 700 pages linked to individuals that it said were associated with the Congress and the BJP for spamming other users.
Last year, WhatsApp faced severe criticism as lynching incidents flared up due to free flow of fake news on the platform. Under pressure from the government, the American company appointed Abhijit Bose as head of WhatsApp India. The firm also named Komal Lahiri as grievance officer for India.
