WhatsApp has introduced a new feature that enables users to automatically silence incoming calls from unknown contacts, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on June 20.
The launch comes on the heels of several users, especially in its biggest market India, complaining about a spike in spam calls in recent months. In May, the Meta-owned messaging platform said it had ramped up its artificial intelligence and machine learning systems to tackle the issue of international spam calls.
In a blogpost on June 20, WhatsApp said that the feature helps users to automatically screen out spam, scams, and calls from unknown people for "increased protection". These calls will not ring on the user's phone but will be visible in their call logs, the company said.
Users will be able to enable this feature by heading over to the "calls" option within the app's privacy settings and toggling the “silence unknown caller” option.
WhatsApp has also added a Privacy Checkup feature that guides users through important privacy settings to help them choose the right level of protection at a single place.
"Selecting 'start checkup' in your privacy settings will navigate you through multiple privacy layers that strengthen the security of your messages, calls, and personal information," the company said.
In May, WhatsApp also introduced a Chat Lock feature to help users password-protect specific private conversations. The feature will allow users to lock chats that will take the conversation thread out of the inbox and put it behind its own folder that users can access with their device password or biometrics such as fingerprints.
It will also automatically hide the sender's name and the contents of the message in notifications as well.
The messaging application also introduced a slew of features to strengthen its security offerings in April 2023. This includes automated security codes, device verification, and extra checks while moving accounts to another device.
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