WhatsApp has it’s own problem when it comes to privacy policies. However, in what it lacks there, it provides for in security. I use WhatsApp a lot on my desktop and I wonder why there is no extra security to it. I guess they heard me because things are changing.

WhatsApp Desktop Security Features Biometric Authentication

Linking your WhatsApp account to your computer’s web browser or desktop app is getting a little more secure. Soon, if you’ve got biometric authentication enabled on your phone, you’ll have to unlock the app before you can link your account.

Image Courtesy The Verge

Just like logging into your MySafaricom App using fingerprints, the same goes for WhatsApp desktop now. The new system should ensure that if someone else gains access to your phone, they won’t be able to link your account to their web browser.

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The new system will be enabled by default on any iPhone devices running iOS 14. It will use either Touch ID or Face ID. It will work also on any Android devices that have biometric authentication.

This means users will have to use it to link their accounts. Unless they disable biometric authentication for their entire device. Users who don’t have biometric authentication set up on their phone will be able to link their account as usual.

As with any other use of biometric security on modern smartphones, the new system does not mean that WhatsApp is accessing or collecting your facial scans or fingerprints. Rather, it’s just using the same biometric data APIs every other app does in order to access the on-device security system. This is just an extra measure of authentication before it allows users to connect their accounts.