WhatsApp enhances privacy with hidden phone numbers

WhatsApp is further enhancing user privacy within its communities by introducing a new phone number privacy feature. This comes after the recent unveiling of an updated interface for the Communities tab.

Understanding the New Phone Number Privacy Feature

WhatsApp has quietly tested a phone number privacy feature and is now expanding its availability to more users. The feature ensures that community members’ phone numbers remain concealed from other participants. Previously, although the participants list in the community announcement group was hidden, users had to reveal their phone numbers to use message reactions. With this new feature, users can now add reactions while keeping their phone numbers hidden.

In the community announcement group info, users will find a new option called “phone number privacy.” Enabling this feature notifies users that their phone numbers will only be visible to community administrators and saved contacts. As a result, other community participants cannot see their complete phone numbers during conversations. It’s important to note that this feature applies solely to community members, and the phone number of the community administrator remains visible.

The phone number privacy feature provides users with improved anonymity and privacy when interacting within the community announcement group. Users can now add reactions to messages without revealing their full phone numbers. This feature expands on the existing functionality of reacting to messages within the community. WhatsApp also has plans to extend this feature to other groups in the future. If a user privately contacts a community member with a hidden phone number, they can send a request to share their phone number.

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The phone number privacy feature is currently in beta testing and accessible to users who have installed the latest WhatsApp update on Android and iOS devices. The feature will be progressively made available to more users in the coming days. Furthermore, WhatsApp is actively developing additional features, such as sticker suggestions, a chat list filter, and high-quality video sharing, to continuously improve the user experience.