With over 3 billion users, WhatsApp is a prime target for account hijacking and data scraping. While end-to-end encryption protects the content of your messages, your metadata (IP address, profile photo, and online status) remains vulnerable unless you manually adjust your settings.
Also Read | Horoscope Today: January 5, 2026 — Daily Predictions
Here are eight essential features to boost your security and prevent “GhostPairing” or contact discovery attacks.
1. Essential Security Features Checklist
| Feature | What it Protects | Where to Find It |
| Two-Step Verification | Prevents account hijacking via a 6-digit PIN. | Settings > Account > Two-step verification |
| Protect IP Address | Hides your location during calls by routing through Meta servers. | Settings > Privacy > Advanced |
| Chat Lock | Hides sensitive chats in a fingerprint-protected folder. | Contact Info > Chat Lock |
| App Lock | Requires FaceID/Fingerprint to open the entire app. | Settings > Privacy > App Lock |
| Block Unknown Messages | Stops high-volume spam (used by scammers). | Settings > Privacy > Advanced |
| Default Message Timer | Auto-deletes new chats after 24 hours, 7, or 90 days. | Settings > Privacy > Default message timer |
Also Read | Horoscope Today: January 5, 2026 — Daily Predictions
2. Advanced Privacy Controls
The “Advanced Chat Privacy” Toggle
New for 2026, this feature prevents people from taking chats “outside the app.” It stops auto-downloading of your media to their device and prevents your messages from being used for AI training.
-
How to enable: Go to View Contact > Advanced Chat Privacy.
-
Note: You must enable this individually for each chat or group.
Link Preview Suppression
Did you know that generating a link preview can reveal your IP address to the website owner?
-
The Fix: Go to Settings > Privacy > Advanced and toggle off Disable Link Previews.
3. Managing Your “Digital Footprint”
-
Silence Unknown Callers: In Settings > Privacy, enable this to automatically filter out potential scammers.
-
Media Auto-Download: Stop WhatsApp from cluttering your gallery and potentially saving sensitive images by turning off Save to Photos in Settings > Chats.
-
View Once: For photos or voice notes that shouldn’t live forever, tap the ‘1’ icon in the caption field before hitting send.
Also Read | Horoscope Today: January 5, 2026 — Daily Predictions
