WhatsApp rolls out usernames feature for phone number privacy, but experts flag metadata concerns

Zoe Kleinman, Liv McMahon

7d ago· 2 min readenNews

Summary

WhatsApp is rolling out a new usernames feature globally over the coming months, allowing users to chat without sharing their phone numbers. The feature mirrors a similar one introduced by Signal in 2024. While the feature offers enhanced privacy, experts caution that WhatsApp still collects significant metadata for marketing purposes, and note that the app is owned by Meta, which has a poor privacy track record. WhatsApp's private chats remain protected by end-to-end encryption.

Source

bskyWhatsApp rolls out usernames feature for phone number privacy, but experts flag metadata concernsbbc.co.uk

Key quotes

· 3 pulled

It is a good feature, but even if it does offer more privacy, remember WhatsApp is not a privacy-friendly app overall.

It collects much metadata about users for marketing purposes.

We have to remember that WhatsApp is owned by Meta - one of the tech companies with the worst track records when it comes to privacy.

Snippet from the RSS feed

The app's new usernames feature will be rolled out globally over the next few months.

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