WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging platform, has announced a new privacy feature that will allow users to chat using only unique usernames without sharing their phone numbers.
“Elchi” reports that this feature, which will be gradually rolled out to 3 billion account holders worldwide in the coming months, allows users to choose a username through the app, though it is not mandatory. In the platform’s statement, it was noted that usernames can be deleted or changed at any time.
Once the system is fully activated, providing a username will be sufficient to start a new conversation instead of a phone number.
For security purposes, options to block and report unwanted messages will be retained.
In usernames, which are limited to a maximum of 35 characters, there will be some restrictions for high-ranking officials and celebrities to prevent impersonation.
WhatsApp Product Manager Alice Newton-Rex stated that they have received requests from users, especially those who do not want to share their phone numbers with people they do not know in group chats, and that they aim to give users full control over how they present themselves with this new feature.
A similar privacy feature was implemented by the secure messaging app Signal in 2024. While Professor Carisa Veliz from Oxford University welcomed this feature as a positive step, she criticized Meta’s data collection policy, reminding that the app continues to collect metadata for advertising purposes. Although WhatsApp cannot use chat content for advertising due to end-to-end encryption, it continues to use data such as who is messaged and when in its advertising processes.
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