WhatsApp expands its Disappearing Messages feature with the choice for chats to self-destruct after 24 hours or 90 days, as well as the existing seven day option
WhatsApp users can now choose to make their messages disappear after a variety of time periods thanks to a controversial new update.
The Meta-owned messaging app has extended options for its disappearing messages feature, which was rolled out late last year.
As well as being able to make messages disappear after seven days, users now have two extra options for how long the deletion period is – 24 hours and 90 days.
Turning on the Disappearing Messages feature makes all new messages disappear from a chosen chat after the user's specified period of time.
People might want to choose to delete their messages for a personal reason. For example, they may contain sensitive information they don't want accessible anywhere – not even on WhatsApp, which is end-to-end encrypted.
Generally, WhatsApp wants to emulate the security of face-to-face conversations and give users the knowledge that their messages aren't being stored online.
Storing all conversations forever is 'the equivalent of a note taker following us around making a permanent record of everything we've said,' WhatsApp claims.
Also as of today, WhatsApp has given users the ability to have Disappearing Messages turned on for all their new chats.
However, one child safety expert has criticised giving users the ability to make messages disappear after just 24 hours, saying it would create a 'toxic cocktail of risk' for vulnerable children.
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WhatsApp is adding two new durations for disappearing messages - 24 hours and 90 days. This complements the existing option of seven days
WhatsApp’s privacy policy – making all messages end-to-end encrypted and therefore hard to detect – has already been criticised by the NSPCC as facilitating ‘a one-stop grooming shop’ for paedophiles.
Andy Burrows, Head of Child Safety Online Policy at the NSPCC, said: 'This poorly thought out design decision will enable offenders to rapidly delete evidence of child abuse, making it even harder for law enforcement to charge them and protect children.'
WhatsApp outlined the changes in a blog post. They start rolling out globally for WhatsApp users from today.
'Deciding how long a message lasts should be in your hands,' it says. 'We've become accustomed to leaving a digital copy of just about everything we type without even thinking about it.
'It's become the equivalent of a note taker following us around making a permanent record of everything we've said.
'Today we are excited to provide our users with more options to control their messages and how long they stick around.'
Today's other new change – having Disappearing Messages turned on for all their new chats – is optional and does not change or delete any existing chats.
When turned on, this feature will automatically apply Disappearing Messages to all one-to-one chats that users start or are started with other users.
Users can also opt to turn on Disappearing Messages for group chats that they create – however, the feature isn't automatically set for group chats like it is for one-to-one chats.
Announcing this feature, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly known as Facebook), said: 'We're rolling out a new disappearing messages option on WhatsApp today so you'll be able to make all new chats disappear by default after 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days.
'Not all messages need to stick around forever.'
WhatsApp rolled out Disappearing Messages in November 2020. At the time, it said it wants to make conversations 'feel as close to in-person as possible' so 'they shouldn't have to stick around forever'.
However, there is also nothing in place to stop the other user from screenshotting a message, and unlike Snapchat, WhatsApp won't warn you if they do take a screenshot. WhatsApp has increasingly been exploring options to make user messages more 'ephemeral' – in August this year, WhatsApp started rolling out a Snapchat-inspired feature called View Once, which causes photos and videos to 'self-destruct' after they've been opened.
The firm believes disappearing content will make it easier and safer for users to send sensitive information.
WhatsApp likes to point out that all conversations on the platform are end-to-end encrypted.
This means that only the participants of a chat can access the content of the messages, and no one in between – not even staff of the company that owns the service (i.e. WhatsApp).
So technically a WhatsApp user who makes their messages disappear isn't much at risk of having their messages read by anyone other than other users who receive their message.
It's likely that some users just want to be safe in the knowledge that their most private or revealing messages no longer exist on WhatsApp.
However, there is nothing stopping the other user from screenshotting a message, or the other user's phone from falling into the wrong hands.
All conversations on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted. This means that only the participants of a chat can access the content of the messages, and no one in between
End-to-end encryption is much touted by WhatsApp as a leading security standard for online messaging that it would never get rid of.
But plans to introduce the privacy standard on Facebook Messaging, as well as Instagram (which is also owned by Meta) seems to have stalled.
This may be partly due to opponents from child protection charities, who have said end-to-end encryption makes it harder for authorities to detect paedophiles who message children on WhatsApp.
Burrows at NSPCC said today that offenders groom children on open platforms like Instagram 'before moving them to WhatsApp for further abuse where there is less chance of detection'.
'Making these changes to WhatsApp in combination with end-to-end encryption is a toxic cocktail of risk that wouldn’t pass any regulatory assessment as will be required by the Online Safety Bill,' he said.
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