WhatsApp is a fantastic communications app that is used by billions of people all around the world, but you’d be surprised by just how many people don’t realise that how they’re using it could be compromising their privacy, control or enjoyment of it.
As such, here we list the 13 most common whatsapp mistakes we see people making when using WhatsApp – so check the list and make sure you’re not making them.
1. Stop auto-backup of chats in Google Drive or iCloud
WhatsApp chat backups saved in iCloud or Google Drive are not encrypted. So, if some chats are important and need to be saved, it’s a good idea to export them and save it securely somewhere else. Unnecessarily backing up all WhatsApp chats takes up storage and is often of little use.
2. Never turning off automatic media downloads
As default, WhatsApp will automatically download any media posted in chats to your device’s image gallery. Not only does this eat away continuously at your phone’s storage levels but it also completely sabotages your image gallery and any connected cloud-based storage library like Google Photos. It’s one thing to have a few images sent to you then manually saved as you actually want to keep them, but it’s another thing to have your gallery literally bombed with every piece of media anyone posts in a chat, no matter how mundane or irrelevant, without you permitting it. Want 57 images of a WhatsApp contact’s under renovation kitchen stored on your phone? Turn off automatic media downloads in WhatsApp’s setting menu now.
3. Letting Any Old Person See Your Personal Information
This is an absolutely critical mistake in our eyes that a lot of people do – they have their last seen, profile photo, about, groups, status information and even live location toggled to be visible/accessible to ‘everyone’. This literally means what it says, with everyone no matter how tangential to you being given full access to your most personal information on WhatsApp. What you look like, what you’re doing, when you were last active, where you actually are and more is now accessible to Joe Random, even if you don’t know who they are. Worse still, if you leave the groups setting switched to ‘everyone’, too, then anyone can add you to any group without your permission. We advise showing info like this only to ‘my contacts’ or ‘nobody’ to preserve your privacy and control.
4. Not making use of whatsapp’s biometric security
Did you know that WhatsApp has biometric fingerprint security built in? Yes, we thought so. So many people we talk to here at T3 have no idea that it’s an option for them, which is a shame as the vast majority of modern smartphones have fingerprint readers built in and it can add a lovely extra level of security to your private WhatsApp messages. As, with no security turned on, anyone can pick up your phone while you’re not looking and rifle through your messages, contacts, pictures and audio recordings. Turning on ‘unlock with fingerprint’ is a simple toggle option in WhatsApp’s settings menu, so make sure you toggle it now.
5. Sharing photos in sub-optimal quality
Ever sent or received images in WhatsApp only to open them up on your computer or try to print them off only to realise their quality seems low? The problem is your WhatsApp photo upload quality is likely set to ‘auto’ or ‘data saver’. These modes reduce the quality of each uploaded image, which is fine if you’re just sharing quick snaps that are only going to be viewed in a WhatsApp chat and then never again, but if you want to share high-quality images with friends and family on WhatsApp so they can print them off then make sure this setting is toggled to ‘best quality’. More data will of course be used in the upload but at least the image quality will be maintained.
6. Not turning on two-factor authentication
Lastly, WhatsApp has two-factor authentication built in and, once enabled, this adds a huge extra barrier to hackers trying to hack into your account. Yes, two-factor authentication means it takes fractionally longer to log in to WhatsApp each time, but it could be the difference between you using the app risk free and having your name, address, appearance and family details exposed to hackers. Turn it on now.
7. Always avoid sharing porn clips. This may land you in jail
WhatsApp has strict policies against sharing pornographic content. While you think that it’s harmless sharing a few adult clips or photos it’s quite risky. If someone reports your account to WhatsApp then WhatsApp may ban your account and also file a police complaint as per its terms of usage.
8. Not Enabling Whatsapp’s Default Message Timer
Another great WhatsApp feature designed to increase your privacy is ‘default message timer’, which is a feature that a surprisingly few amount of people make use of. That’s a mistake as default message timer lets you select a time period for your chat histories to be deleted, with 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days selectable. This means that old, dated messages that are no longer relevant can be scrubbed to protect your privacy. We think the 24 hours one is a bit much to be honest, as sometimes it is useful to recall what was said in a chat, but a week or 90-day delete seems smart.
9. Avoid sharing unverified news or rumours on sensitive topics on WhatsApp, unless you want to get arrested
The police have the authority to dig out your WhatsApp chats to know whether you played a role in sharing fake news to incite violence. So, unless you want to land in trouble, don’t spread unverified news or rumours on sensitive topics.
10. Don’t spread hate messages over WhatsApp on caste, race, religion, etc
Like fake news, WhatsApp has strict policies against using its platform for hate mongering. Avoid sharing such messages
11. Never open a WhatsApp account with someone else’s name
Don’t make the mistake of running a WhatsApp account using someone else’s name. This qualifies for impersonation and it’s a crime.
12. Stop saving WhatsApp messages forever if you don’t need them
Every message is time bound and there’s very little reason to save all chats forever. Use the disappearing message feature to auto-clean your WhatsApp chats after every seven days.
13. Don’t forget to turn on device linking security update to be sure that someone else is not seeing your WhatsApp chats
WhatsApp has added an additional layer of protection when you want to link your WhatsApp account to your computer. To link WhatsApp Web or Desktop to your WhatsApp account, you will be asked to use your face or fingerprint unlock on your phone, before scanning a QR code from the phone to link your device. With this feature, you will get a pop-up notice whenever a Web/Desktop login occurs ensuring that someone else is not seeing your WhatsApp chats.
