WhatsApp has introduced a brand-new feature that allows users to silence incoming phone calls from unknown numbers. This feature aims to enhance user privacy while countering spam calls and scams.
"Now you can automatically mute incoming calls from unknown contacts on WhatsApp for more privacy and control," said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his announcement, as quoted by TechCrunch, Rau (21/6/2023).
 |
| Source: WhatsApp |
In their blog post, WhatsApp explained that when this feature is enabled, all phone calls from unknown numbers will be automatically silenced.
However, these phone calls will still appear in notifications and the call log. This way, users can still check if the call is from a known person whose number is not saved or from a completely unknown individual.
When users receive a phone call from an unknown number, WhatsApp will only display the phone number with a message stating, "Silenced unknown number."
Currently, the feature to mute calls from unknown numbers is available for all WhatsApp users. It's quite easy to mute calls from unknown numbers on WhatsApp:
- Make sure you have installed the latest version of the WhatsApp application.
- Open the WhatsApp application and go to Settings.
- Navigate to the Privacy menu and scroll down to select the Call option.
- Tap the available button until it turns green to mute unknown callers.
In addition, WhatsApp has also introduced the Privacy Checkup feature to help users understand all the protection and security options in WhatsApp. This feature will appear as a banner at the top of the Privacy menu.
With this feature, WhatsApp users can learn about various privacy controls offered, such as selecting who can contact them, controlling personal information, strengthening privacy in chats, and more.
Users can also modify settings such as two-factor authentication (2FA), specifying who can add them to groups, setting a default timer for disappearing messages, and controlling who can view their profile picture.
These two new features complement the range of privacy-focused features that WhatsApp has launched recently. One of them is the Chat Lock feature, which can lock confidential conversations behind a password.