© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
With the rise in personal data security and privacy issues on social media websites, courtesy of the recent Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, ensuring our own safety and privacy is of paramount importance. And when it comes to sharing our information with people on instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, we have to be extra careful. In this article, we have mentioned some safety tips and general guidelines that you have to keep in mind in order to ensure security and privacy of yourself:
WhatsApp has provided certain tools and features inside the app that you can configure and take full control of your safety and privacy:
Let’s get it straight. You often end up sharing so much about yourself, and you may not even know about it in the first place. It starts with some of the basic things like your profile picture, your last seen or even status (the one that disappears after 24 hours, and I’m not even sure if users still bother about that old status anymore). I personally know a few people who have disabled “last seen” due to a paranoia that their usage patterns are being tracked by their friends or strangers all the time. Many of them have also stopped using a profile picture that shows their real face. Whatever be the case, it’s your information at the end of the day, and you have all the right to keep those things hidden from whoever you want.
When it comes to your profile picture, last seen or status, WhatsApp lets you decide who can see your information. WhatsApp gives you multiple choices: Everyone, My Contacts and Nobody. If you choose Everyone, your profile picture, last seen or status will remain visible publicly to any WhatsApp user having your phone number (associated with your WhatsApp account) saved onto his or her device. If you choose My Contacts, your information will be limited to only those who you have added to your contacts. If you prefer not to share any of your information with anyone on WhatsApp, you can choose Nobody. To configure these things, go to WhatsApp > Settings > Privacy.
This is something only you can decide. When it comes to sharing sensitive information on WhatsApp or any instant messaging app for that matter, you have to be extra careful. I’d advise you should refrain from sharing your bank account or credit card details, social media or email account passwords etc. Although WhatsApp claims it doesn’t store your messages on its servers once they get delivered to your recipients, your job isn’t done. Your messages are locally stored inside your phone’s storage. So, anyone with access to your phone can also gain access to your messages. It might also lead to a sensitive information you might have shared on WhatsApp ending up in the wrong hands. Also, you should not reveal too much to strangers on WhatsApp.
If you want to report certain security or privacy related issues or concerns to WhatsApp, go to Settings > About and help > Contact us. If you are a Windows Phone user, go to WhatsApp > more > settings > about > support. In case you or someone you know on WhatsApp is in some serious trouble or danger, you can take it up with local police and law enforcement authorities. Similarly, whenever you receive message from some stranger for the first time, WhatsApp gives an option to report the number as spam. If you want to report certain use or group as spam, go to WhatsApp > Tap and open the profile information of an individual or group you want to report > Scroll down to the bottom > Report Spam.
WhatsApp occasionally bans certain users if it feels their account activity has been violating WhatsApp’s Terms of Service. So, if you notice something strange or unlawful activities happening on WhatsApp, either report or bring them to WhatsApp’s notice. If you want to know more about the acceptable use of WhatsApp, do check our their these terms and service the company has put it up on their official website.
With the rise of fake news distributing on social networking websites like Facebook, we can’t deny that WhatsApp has also been a playground for those who create and distribute hoax messages in the first place. Be it a political propaganda or anything else, hoax messages and fake news are some of the issues both users and WhatsApp have got to deal with. One example of hoax message: You may receive the same message from multiple users that might say something along the lines of WhatsApp is going to charge users $10 a year to continue using the service. In some cases, it may also ask you to forward the same message to a certain number of users so that you can avoid paying for the service.
You can report users sending such messages as spam. Also, if you wish to stop receiving such messages from certain users in the future, you can simply block them. Go to WhatsApp > Open the profile you want to block > Three-dotted icon at the top right corner > More > Block.
