WhatsApp may soon allow users to hide IP addresses during calls so scammers can’t track location
India is witnessing a rise in cyber fraud cases and one of the most vulnerable platforms to these scams is WhatsApp. With millions of active users, the Meta-owned instant messaging app is becoming a common ground for scammers to spread their ploys. Therefore, to protect users, Meta is working on a new security feature that will allow users to prevent their location from being tracked using their IP address during calls.
According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is testing a new option in Settings for call privacy called “Preserve IP address in calls”. The feature will make it more difficult for people to track your location during a WhatsApp call by routing the call through WhatsApp’s servers. “This new option acts like a privacy relay feature for calls, making it harder for those involved in the call to guess your location by securely relaying it through WhatsApp servers,” the report said. “
Although this feature will give an additional layer of security to the users, it will compromise a bit on the call quality. This is because the calls are routed through WhatsApp’s servers, which encrypt and route the data. Encryption and routing processes can add a small amount of latency, which can affect call quality.
The new IP address protection feature is designed to enhance the privacy of your location information during calls, making it more challenging for individuals you are communicating with to pinpoint your exact location. In terms of availability, WhatsApp has yet to make an official announcement regarding this feature. Wabetainfo first spotted the feature in testing, which was initially spotted in the WhatsApp beta for the Android 2.23.18.15 update. So it is likely to be included in an upcoming app update.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp recently rolled out a new “Silence Unknown Callers” feature in its Settings. In its official blog post announcing the features, Meta revealed that the new “Silence Unknown Callers” feature will give WhatsApp users more privacy and control over incoming calls. This feature will automatically screen spam, scams and calls from unknown people for better security on the platform.
Announcing the new privacy feature, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “You can now automatically silence incoming calls from unknown contacts on WhatsApp for even more privacy and control.“
Once enabled, the new feature will silence incoming calls from unknown numbers. However, to ensure that users do not miss important calls, WhatsApp still shows call history in the call list tab and in notifications.