Meta’s WhatsApp has introduced a new feature in response to complaints from users in India regarding an increase in spam calls.
The feature allows users to automatically silence incoming calls from unknown numbers. Mark Zuckerberg announced this feature along with a new privacy checkup option.
To enable the call silencing feature, users can go to Settings > Privacy > Calls and select the “Silence unknown caller” option. When a call is received from an unknown number, the phone will display the number and the message “silenced unknown number.”
Although the calls will be silenced, they will still appear in notifications and the app’s call list, allowing users to check later if the call was from someone they know but haven’t saved in their contacts.
Additionally, WhatsApp has introduced a privacy checkup feature that can be found in the Privacy section. This checkup guides users through various steps to familiarize them with different privacy controls. These controls include options such as “Choose who can contact you,” “Control your info,” “Add more privacy to your chats,” and “Add more protection to your account.”
Through this process, users can adjust settings like two-factor authentication, determine who can add them to groups, set a default timer for disappearing messages, and manage who can see their profile picture.
These updates aim to provide users with more privacy and control over their WhatsApp experience, addressing concerns related to spam calls and enhancing overall privacy settings.
