WhatsApp is introducing a new privacy measure that hides your "last seen" status from other - unknown - accounts that have never chatted with you. This way, strangers will no longer be able to see when you were last online on WhatsApp - or even if you are currently online.
As WABetaInfo now reported, this change has already had an impact on some accounts, as some users recently reported that they can no longer see other users' WhatsApp status. WhatsApp support explained to a user (who answered Twitter announced that the app will no longer show "your last seen and online presence" to unknown accounts due to new privacy and security measures. The company explains that nothing will change for users who have your phone number saved in their address book or who have already chatted with you.
WhatsApp makes data protection changes
To improve the privacy and security of our users, we're making it harder for people you don't know or have chatted with to see your last seen information and online presence on WhatsApp. This doesn't change the relationship between you and the friends, family and businesses you know or have chatted with before.
In addition to this new measure, WhatsApp has been testing a new privacy option that allows users to select specific accounts from which they want to hide their "last seen" status. This feature was reported back in September and is now available to WhatsApp beta users on iOS and Android. (Photo by Denys Prykhodov / Bigstockphoto)
