In a move to keep users' security and safety at the topmost priority, WhatsApp has recently launched a new feature that will help users protect their IP Addresses during WhatsApp calls.
The feature is known as ‘Protect IP Address’ and it was announced by Meta on November 8, 2023. The feature was in talks and was first discovered on the Beta platform as reported by WABetaInfo. Now the feature has been rolled out globally.
Also Read - What Is WhatsApp’s Protect IP Address Feature?
The Meta blog mentioned: “In October 2023, WhatsApp began rolling out “Protect IP Address in Calls” which hides your IP from the other party by relaying calls through WhatsApp Servers.”
Source: Engineering At Meta
How Is Protect IP Address Feature Useful?
- Improved privacy: By hiding your IP address from other people in your calls, WhatsApp can make it more difficult for them to track your location. This can be especially important if you are making calls to people who you do not know well or if you are concerned about your privacy.
- Reduced risk of eavesdropping: Routing your calls through WhatsApp's servers can make it more difficult for other people to intercept your calls. This is because WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption to protect all calls and messages.
- Improved security: By adding an additional layer of security to your calls, WhatsApp can help to protect you from cyberattacks. This is because WhatsApp's servers are constantly monitored for suspicious activity.
The Meta blog states: “IP addresses are visible to both callers on a 1:1 call. IP addresses may contain information that some of our most privacy-conscious users are mindful of, such as broad geographical location or internet provider. To address this concern, we introduced a new feature on WhatsApp that allows you to protect your IP address during calls.”
“With this feature enabled, all your calls will be relayed through WhatsApp’s servers, ensuring that other parties in the call cannot see your IP address and subsequently deduce your general geographical location. This new feature provides an additional layer of privacy and security particularly geared towards our most privacy-conscious users. As always, your calls are end-to-end encrypted, so even if a call is relayed through WhatsApp servers, WhatsApp cannot listen to your calls,” it adds.
How to Enable Protect IP Address Feature?
Here are the steps listed by WhatsApp’s Help Centre on how to activate the Protect IP Address feature:
- Open WhatsApp.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Privacy.
- Scroll down and tap Advanced.
- Toggle Protect IP address in calls on or off.
Note: WhatsApp mentions that the quality of the call might be reduced while the Protect IP Address feature is on.
Overall, the Protect IP Address feature is a useful tool for anyone who wants to improve their privacy and security when making calls on WhatsApp.
READ| How to Use WhatsApp’s New Multiple Accounts Feature?
What Is The Polls Feature In WhatsApp Channels?
WhatsApp Plans to Introduce Email Verification Feature for Login: Here is How to Use It
Comments
All Comments (0)
Join the conversation