WhatsApp is the most used instant messaging application in our country, according to the 2022 Digital Report prepared by Hootsuite. Almost 90% of the population uses this channel to communicate, so it is important to know the security measures that WhatsApp offers to control the application’s privacy on your mobile.
Today’s article gives you the keys to protecting your WhatsApp account and maintaining secure and private communication. Do not miss it!
Security and privacy in WhatsApp: What measures to take
If the applications you install on your smartphone are not secure, your data is at risk of being stolen or deleted. For this reason, activating the security functions in WhatsApp is essential to avoid data loss or confidentiality crimes.
WhatsApp developers integrate a series of security and privacy features, among which we can highlight two-step verification, making and restoring backup copies, or sending temporary messages.
Two-step verification or double authentication
Two-step verification, also called double authentication, is an optional feature the app offers to add security to your account and prevent outsiders from accessing it easily.
To enter your WhatsApp account from a new smartphone or when changing devices, you have to enter your phone number, where you will receive an SMS, and you will be able to log in regularly.
With two-step verification, in addition to receiving this SMS, WhatsApp will ask you for a PIN that you must previously activate and your email. This way, breaking into your WhatsApp account will be very difficult for a hacker. We tell you how to activate double authentication to improve the security of your WhatsApp account:
- Enter “Settings” or “Configuration” within your WhatsApp.
- Click on “Account” – “Two-Step Verification” – “Activate”.
- Enter a six-digit PIN and confirm it.
- Optionally add an email account that you always have access to. We recommend adding it as it will allow you to reset 2-Step Verification and protect your account.
- Click on “Next”.
- Confirm and tap “OK” or “Save”.
If you want to change the PIN, you can do it in the same section and deactivate the Verification in two steps.
Also Read: Multi-Device Whatsapp: What It Is And How It Works
Make backup copies on WhatsApp
WhatsApp backups will help you recover all your data when you first log in to a new or reset device. WhatsApp allows you to set your automatic backups to be done every day, every week or monthly. You can also do them manually and choose whether to save the videos in the backup.
You should know that your backups will be archived in Google or Apple storage services, depending on whether your phone is Android or iOS. The Google or Apple accounts you have on your mobile device will be used, so if you log in on a mobile with a different account than the one you had on your previous device, you will not be able to recover your data from a backup. However, your phone number is the same.
We tell you how to make backup copies on WhatsApp step by step:
- Open “Settings” or” ” Settings”– “Chats” in WhatsApp.
- Press “Backup” – “Back up now” if you want to do it right away, or activate “Automatic backup” and choose “Daily”, “Monthly”, “Weekly”, or “No”, depending on your interest.
To make the backup, we advise you to do it through a WIFI connection to avoid excessive data consumption. If you turn on automatic backups, turn off mobile data when automatic backups are done.
On iOS:
- Turn off mobile data for iCloud Drive in “Settings” – “Mobile Data” and turn off the “iCloud Drive” tab.
On Android:
- Within the WhatsApp settings, in “Backup”, there is a tab that reads “Use only WIFI”. Activate it to complete the backup only when connected to a WIFI network.
Sending temporary messages
Recently, WhatsApp has added the functionality of sending messages and all kinds of files to other users as “temporary messages”, that is, messages that are automatically deleted after a period, which can be 24 hours, seven days, or 90 days. Or a specific duration.
This function offers you more privacy and frees up space on your device since these files completely disappear after the selected period. To activate it, you must follow these steps:
- Enter WhatsApp in a conversation with another user or group of users of which you are an administrator.
- Click on the settings of your conversation with the other user by clicking on their name.
- Click on “Temporary messages”, and in message duration, choose the desired duration of the sent message.
Once this function has been activated, a notification will appear in the conversation, letting you know that you have activated temporary messages so that all messages will be deleted after the chosen duration.
Another option is view-once file sending, which allows you to send files to another user, such as photos and videos, that disappear once opened. To check this option, you must send a file, attach it from within the conversation, and choose the option to configure a photo to only be seen once, which will be represented by an icon with a “1”.
Other measures to protect your WhatsApp account
There are other functions to improve the security of your WhatsApp account, as well as the privacy of the data.
- Ignore emails asking you to reset your 2-Step Verification PIN if you haven’t requested it. They are scam attempts to access your phone number on WhatsApp.
- Keep your profile picture private; this way, no one you have not added to your WhatsApp address book contacts will be able to see your image. Tap on the “Profile Photo” setting and choose “My Contacts”.
- Avoid being added to groups without your consent. You can activate this function in “Settings” – “Account”, – “Privacy”, – “Groups”. Choose “Everyone” (can add you), “My contacts” (only your contacts can add you to groups), or “My contacts except…” (Choose which of your contacts you do not want to be added to groups).
- Lock your WhatsApp with Face ID or Fingerprint. By activating this option, only the device owner can enter WhatsApp. Enter “Privacy” – “Lock screen” and activate the tab to require Face ID or fingerprint to unlock WhatsApp.
We hope this article will help you activate the security features in WhatsApp and protect your account by getting the most out of it. If you want to know other WhatsApp tricks, you can read this article about the dark mode that will help you optimize your battery’s autonomy.
Also Read: How To Share Our Whatsapp Contact By QR Code