WhatsApp on Tuesday began rolling out a new feature designed to improve the security of its group messaging features. The Meta-owned messaging platform will now show users contextual information when an unknown user adds them to a group. The feature is designed to provide WhatsApp users with relevant information about the group they have been added to, along with a shortcut to exit the group. The service already offers a setting that allows users to prevent strangers from adding them to groups.
WhatsApp group security context tabs
According to details released on Tuesday, WhatsApp is rolling out a new tab for group chats that will show up after a user is added to a group by a user who isn’t in their contacts. This tab is displayed in the chat window and contains information about the group to give users context about the group.
New context cards for group chats will prominently feature the name of the WhatsApp user who added them to the group. An example screenshot showing the feature in action reveals that the tab displays a user-set name — the one displayed with a tilde (~) symbol when an unknown user sends a message in a group chat.
The new WhatsApp group context cards are now available to users worldwide
Photo author: Meta
Users will also be notified that they have been “added to the group by a non-contact”. The contextual tab will also show the new member the name of the user who created the group. The name will of course depend on what the group creator has added to their WhatsApp settings.
If the user is added to a group they do not want to be a part of, the context card includes a Security tools the possibility of reporting problematic content. Users will also see Exit the group leave button and do not want to participate in the conversation.
Existing WhatsApp group security measures
Back in 2019, WhatsApp introduced a practical option under settings > Account > Privacy > groups which allowed users to prevent strangers from adding them to a group, through the app’s privacy settings. When enabled, users will receive an invitation to join groups when a person outside their contact list tries to add them to a group.
Once a user is invited to a group, they have three days to accept it before it expires. The invitation is displayed as a direct message, and users are not added to the group until they tap Join the group button on the invitation. This might be the best option for users who want to avoid being automatically added to groups by unknown users, while still being offered the option to join after seeing details about the group and some of its members.
