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How safe & secure is WhatsApp? Privacy explained
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WhatsApp is secure by design. To keep you safe, we've created an end-to-end encrypted messaging and calling experience with world-class security, and built innovative tools that put you in control. Here are some features we've designed to keep your WhatsApp account safe.
Layers of security
Built-in protection
By default, WhatsApp has three built-in layers of security to give you the peace of mind to focus on connecting with family and friends.
- Default privacy: No one outside of your chats can read, listen to, or share your personal messages.
- Automatic spam detection: WhatsApp catches and removes most spam and scam accounts before they can even reach you or before anyone reports them.
- Proactive security alerts: WhatsApp prompts you to verify your identity if it detects any suspicious or unauthorized attempts to take over your account.
Take control of your experience
Check out these easy steps that will add additional layers of protection to prevent hackers and scammers from stealing your account and data.
- Enable two-step verification: Set up a secret pin and never share it with anyone to prevent someone from stealing your account.
- Always use the official WhatsApp: Using fake versions of WhatsApp poses serious privacy and security risks to your account and data.
- Keep your groups safe: Control who can add you to groups and who can join your groups, and remove members or messages when needed.
- Learn to spot scams: Get to know common scams and actions you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones.
- Back up your chat history: You can back up your WhatsApp chat history and media using your iCloud or Google account.
Support tools to guide you through tricky moments
WhatsApp continuously anticipates and adapts to new risks and provides you with tools to support you when you need it. Whether it’s reporting, blocking or recovering your account, here’s what you can do when something doesn’t feel right:
- Report problematic behavior: Reporting messages, people or businesses helps us keep WhatsApp safe for everyone.
- Block unwanted contact: If someone you don’t want to chat with is messaging you, simply block them.
- Recover your account: If you’ve lost access to your account, you can re-register your phone number.
