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After a series of measures to curb rising cases of spam and scam calls, Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp on Tuesday added a new feature that will automatically mute incoming calls from unknown users.
If a user chooses to turn on the new Silence Unknown Callers feature, it will prevent WhatsApp calls from unknown numbers. However, such calls will still be visible in the call list so that users can identify any important caller.
The popular messaging app has recently come under scrutiny in India over a spike in spam calls from international numbers offering fake jobs and lucrative investment options to dupe users. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the minister of state for electronics and information technology, on May 11 had said that the ministry was sending a notice to WhatsApp in this regard.
According to Statista, India has over 487 million WhatsApp users.
The platform has previously ramped up its artificial intelligence and machine learning systems to curb incidents like spam calls significantly. The recent enforcement was supposed to reduce spam calls by at least 50 per cent. It has also taken down over 7.4 million Indian accounts in April — around a 60 per cent increase month-on-month — due to possible user harm activities such as online abuse.
Announcing the new privacy feature, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, said, “You can now automatically silence incoming calls from unknown contacts on WhatsApp for even more privacy and control.”
WhatsApp also introduced a “Privacy Checkup” feature to make users aware of the options for extra protection. The step-by-step feature guides users through important privacy settings to help them choose the right level of protection, all in one place, the company said.
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Once “Start checkup” is selected in privacy settings, the app will take users through multiple privacy layers that strengthen the security of their messages, calls, and personal information.
Meta is also launching a new campaign to promote communication via private messages on the platform.
“While end-to-end encryption is the foundation to ensure your calls and messages are secure, we continue to add more layers of privacy on top including the recently launched Chat Lock to protect sensitive chats behind a password, Disappearing Messages that vanish, screenshot blocking for View Once, and the ability to keep your online presence private,” WhatsApp said in a statement.
