In line with a Nov. 8 announcement by Meta Platforms, its widespread messaging app WhatsApp has rolled out a brand new privateness characteristic that hides customers’ IP addresses throughout voice and video calls. This alteration goals to present customers extra management over their privateness and forestall the unintentional sharing of location knowledge.
Do IP addresses show an excessive amount of identification on calls?
IP addresses can convey location info and determine the web service supplier getting used. In customary peer-to-peer calling, each events see one another’s IP addresses to attach the decision. With the brand new setting enabled, WhatsApp routes all calls by means of its servers as a substitute of building a direct peer-to-peer connection.
“With this characteristic enabled, all of your calls shall be relayed by means of WhatsApp’s servers, guaranteeing that different events within the name can not see your IP deal with and subsequently deduce your normal geographical location,” reads the announcement.
This method blocks the events on a name from viewing one another’s IP addresses.
The setting is non-obligatory and should be manually activated by every consumer within the app’s privateness settings. WhatsApp pressured that even with IP hiding disabled, calls are nonetheless protected by end-to-end encryption.
The “Shield IP Handle” characteristic follows one other main privateness replace earlier this yr. WhatsApp launched the flexibility to dam calls from unknown numbers altogether. The “Silence Unknown Callers” setting goals to scale back undesirable contact and potential cyberattack vectors.
Each new privateness instruments exemplify WhatsApp’s efforts to steadiness enhanced consumer safety with the comfort and high quality of service individuals count on from calling apps. Hiding IP addresses prevents inadvertent location sharing however provides latency by routing calls by means of WhatsApp’s servers. Blocking unknown callers will increase privateness however probably filters out needed calls too.
WhatsApp continues working to make its platform extra personal and safe.
The Fb-owned firm claims to have over 2 billion customers worldwide counting on its encrypted messaging and calling. As considerations over knowledge privateness develop, WhatsApp hopes options like IP deal with safety will ease customers’ considerations whereas sustaining the performance they need.
The “Shield IP Handle” replace is rolling out now on iOS and Android. Customers can activate the setting by going to Account > Privateness > IP Handle. WhatsApp’s newest privateness measures intention to present customers extra management over their info.
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