Stuff

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    What's Hot
    Russia social media

    Kremlin tightens control over Russians’ online lives – threatening domestic freedoms and the global internet

    July 3, 2022
    brainwaves

    How your brainwaves could be used in criminal trials

    July 3, 2022
    github's copilot

    So this is how it feels when the robots come for your job: what GitHub’s Copilot ‘AI assistant’ means for coders

    July 2, 2022
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud
    Trending
    • Kremlin tightens control over Russians’ online lives – threatening domestic freedoms and the global internet
    • How your brainwaves could be used in criminal trials
    • So this is how it feels when the robots come for your job: what GitHub’s Copilot ‘AI assistant’ means for coders
    • Higgs boson: ten years after its discovery, why this particle could unlock new physics beyond the standard model
    • At least one of Xiaomi’s flagship 12-series devices coming to South Africa on 8 July
    • Vodacom spends R460 million on expanding coverage in Limpopo
    • Stuff’s Top Five Tablets (at the moment)
    • Google’s South African domain went down briefly. But it’s back up, crisis averted
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Stuff Stuff
    • News
      • App News
      • Business News
      • Camera News
      • Gaming News
      • Headphone News
      • Industry News
      • Internet News
      • Laptops News
      • Motoring News
      • Other Tech News
      • Phone News
      • Tablet News
      • Technology News
      • TV News
      • Wearables News
    • Reviews
      • Camera Reviews
      • Car Reviews
      • Featured Reviews
      • Game Reviews
      • Headphone Reviews
      • Laptop Reviews
      • Other Tech Reviews
      • Phone Reviews
      • Tablet Reviews
      • Wearables Reviews
    • Columns
    • Stuff Guides
    • Podcasts & Videos
      • Videos
      • Stuffed
      • Stuffing Around
      • Tech Byte
      • T2S2
    • Win
    • Subscribe
      • Print
      • Digital
        • Google Play
        • iTunes
        • Download
        • Zinio
    • Stuff Shop
      • Shop Now
      • My Account
      • Downloads
    • Contact Us
      • Get In Touch
      • Advertise
    0 Shopping Cart
    Stuff
    Home » News » WhatsApp updates ‘Last Seen’ status for better privacy
    App News

    WhatsApp updates ‘Last Seen’ status for better privacy

    Max MilellaBy Max MilellaDecember 14, 2021No Comments2 Mins Read
    WhatsApp
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    In case you’ve been living under a rock, the Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has a little feature called the ‘last seen’ status that lets you see the last time another user was online and vice versa. Commonly used to stalk exes, see if you’ve been ghosted or tell when that joke you just told your best friend really didn’t land.

    Now, you can customise your last seen to be visible to anyone with your number, only to those whose numbers you also have or to nobody at all, but by default it’s toggled to the “Everyone” option. Now WhatsApp’s switching that up.

    WhatsApp incognito

    The messaging app isn’t making any dramatic changes to the feature, but it is changing the default setting or last seen to ‘My Contacts’. If you suddenly can’t see the last seen statuses for contacts you’ve previously been able to, it probably means they don’t have your number saved. Ouch.

    A user on Twitter reached out to WhatsApp because they suddenly couldn’t see several last seen statuses. WhatsApp responded explaining that the default setting had been change to “improve privacy and security “, “making it harder for people you don’t know and haven’t chatted with from seeing your last seen and online presence” on the app.

    Additionally, as WABetaInfo points out, several third-party apps actually exploit the last seen status to monitor user activity. Fortunately, because these apps don’t count as contacts, having the default last seen setting changed to contacts only locks them out.

    That last point is particularly worth noting. Even with the whole Facebook/Meta ad-tracking apocalypse WhatsApp’s otherwise managed to have a pretty good reputation regarding privacy. This was particularly due to its end-to-end encryption, though even that’s been thrown into suspicious territory recently.

    Facebook featured last seen Meta privacy WhatsApp
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
    Max Milella

    Related Posts

    Russia social media

    Kremlin tightens control over Russians’ online lives – threatening domestic freedoms and the global internet

    July 3, 2022
    brainwaves

    How your brainwaves could be used in criminal trials

    July 3, 2022
    github's copilot

    So this is how it feels when the robots come for your job: what GitHub’s Copilot ‘AI assistant’ means for coders

    July 2, 2022

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    In The Mag
    Stuff June-July 2022 Latest Issue

    In This Issue – The Outdoors (June-July 2022) Issue

    By Brett VenterMay 30, 20221

    Once again, we are asking you to check out a new issue of Stuff Magazine.…

    2021 Wish List
    wish list Stuff Wish List 2021

    Stuff Wish List: for the tech impaired

    By Duncan PikeDecember 22, 20210

    Are you from the time before being glued to a smartphone was considered normal? Here’s…

    Wishlist DIY Stuff tech

    Stuff Wish List: for the DIY Diehard

    December 21, 2021
    Wish List Gearhead

    Stuff Wish List: For the petrol-soaked gearhead

    December 20, 2021
    outsiders

    Stuff Wish List: for the Outsiders

    December 17, 2021

    Latest Video

    Sonos

    SONOS Roam SL unboxing by Toby Shapshak

    March 30, 2022
    Mini Cooper

    The Mini Cooper SE Electric with Toby Shapshak

    March 18, 2022
    MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

    MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

    March 16, 2022
    Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Unboxing

    Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra unboxing with Toby Shapshak

    March 16, 2022
    Contact

    South Africa's Consumer Tech News Hub

    General: [email protected]
    Subscriptions: [email protected] or 087 353 1291
    Editorial: 072 735 2614
    Sales: 083 375 2418

    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud

    Subscribe to Updates

    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy & POPI
    • My account
    © 2022 Stuff Group. Designed by Chronon.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.