Days after Meta was sued over alleged false privacy claims surrounding its chat app WhatsApp, the company has rolled out a new setting to protect users against cyber attacks.
The feature, called Strict Account Settings, adds several restrictions. It automatically blocks media and attachments from unknown senders and silences calls from unknown numbers. Under this setting, link previews are turned off, and the system is set to block a high volume of messages from unknown contacts. When someone enables this option, two-step verification is automatically turned on, alongside security notifications that alert the user if the security code of a person they are chatting with changes.
WhatsApp also locks down profile visibility. Your last seen status, online status, profile photo, about details, and any links on your profile become visible only to your contacts. With this restrictive protection layer enabled, only your contacts or pre-selected people from your contacts list can add you to groups.
The company said this lockdown-style feature will be rolling out in the coming weeks and is particularly useful for journalists and public figures. In its description, Meta states that strict account settings are an optional security feature that reduces vulnerability to cyber attack by limiting functionality. Your account is locked to more private settings, and your chats with people outside your contacts will have limitations.
Users can turn on this setting by navigating to Settings, then Privacy, then Advanced, and switching on Strict Account Settings. Meta clarified that users can only change this setting from their primary device and not from a companion platform like WhatsApp for Web or Windows.
The timing of this rollout follows a lawsuit that accuses Meta of making false claims about WhatsApp security protections. The lawsuit alleges that the company stores, analyzes, and can access virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purportedly private communications.
WhatsApp head Will Cathcart rejected these claims, calling it a no-merit, headline-seeking lawsuit.