WhatsApp’s “padlock” function alone is enough for privacy: here’s what you need to do to hide your conversations from everyone.
The concept of privacy is something that has changed over time, today the boundaries between public and private are more blurred than in the past and often the same people decide to reveal personal details through social media. However, there is a fundamental problem that was initially ignored by many and which is only now being given due attention: the use by companies that build platforms of social media, sites and data held on the web.
Today anyone who offers a web service that requires the sharing of personal details is obliged to inform the user of the use of the data, but not simply to give the user the opportunity to refuse the proposed purposes. Use and limit your data sharing to only the portals you are accessing.
Instant messaging platforms deserve a separate discussion, applications where we not only share our sensitive data, but where we have all kinds of conversations with colleagues, superiors, friends, acquaintances, merchants and relatives. In short, there is a world of data and information within various chats, much of which we would like to have exclusive knowledge between us and our interlocutors.
In terms of protecting privacy from external attacks, but also from the chat manager itself, these applications – WhatsApp was among the first if not the first to implement it – They use a cryptographic system Which is to prevent conversations and messages from being leaked. In theory, therefore, only we and our interlocutor should be aware of what we are writing to each other. But what is physically preventing someone from picking up our phones and reading our chats?
WhatsApp: Steps To Make Chats Fully Private With Padlock Function
For some time Meta also pondered the possibility that the spy might be someone close to us. Apparently the need to hide the content and the existence of the chat arose mainly due to the increasingly frequent use of the web version of the application. In fact, if the smartphone has a lock code, the home PC or even worse, the work PC can be within everyone’s reach.
To prevent a chat that we want to hide from anyone from being seen, WhatsApp offers us the padlock function. In practice we have to select the chat we want to hide by clicking on its name, then scroll through the options until we find “Activate Padlock”. Once done, the chat will not be accessible to strangers (it will be unlocked with Face ID on Apple and fingerprint on Android), but will be visible in the chat list
Apparently the appearance of a chat with a lock can arouse suspicion and curiosity, That’s why it’s better to do a second step. Select “Chat with lock”, then go to “Settings” and click “Hide chat”. At this point you will be asked to enter a code to find the chat. After doing this, you will be able to see and access the hidden chat again just by entering the selected code in “Search”.
