Your WhatsApp security just got updated! Know how this privacy feature affects you

A new WhatsApp security update has been rolled out for users. WhatsApp privacy policy is all about ensuring end-to-end encryption for users' chats and also to provide ways to hide status, profile picture and more. In one such privacy-driven development, meta-owned instant messaging app has now enabled a new privacy feature for its users. The new measure will ensure that an unknown WhatsApp contact, with whom you have never chatted, will not be able to see your last seen and online status.

The report came out as a user on Twitter asked WhatsApp if someone is facing any issue in which they can't check the last seen of contacts. In reply, another user shared a screen grab of the WhatsApp Support for the same issue which mentions about the new security feature. 

"To improve the privacy and security of our users, we're making it harder for people you don't know and haven't chatted with from seeing your last seen and online presence on WhatsApp," the screenshot information entitled with WhatsApp Support reads. It further mentions that the new privacy feature will not change anything for the users with their friends, family and businesses with whom they have contacted previously.

What this new WhatsApp privacy feature is about and why is it important:

Many users on Twitter seemed perplexed with the need of the new privacy feature, as even few considered it as completely unnecessary. And you must be feeling confused too!

There is an important reason behind the new privacy feature for your WhatsApp and its none other than the unknown third-party apps. Yes! People don't know but there are few third-party apps that can even log in to the last seen and online status of the selected contacts. To protect its users, WhatsApp released this privacy feature which can restrict the stalking of third-party apps to know when other people are online.

As mentioned above, it doesn't change anything in terms of the chatting experience between you with your friends, family or colleagues. But filters out the third-party apps as well as new people with whom you never chatted in the past to know your active status on WhatsApp. But still if you can't see the active status of your saved contacts that's nothing to do with this feature, but they have enabled a privacy setting to hide their last seen and no one can do anything about it, not even WhatsApp. Because privacy matters!