In WhatsApp is practically everything about us: we tell our lives, we send photos and videos of everything that surrounds us and everything we do. Due to the importance it has in our life, today we explain how to protect your WhatsApp account or what tips you should follow to prevent problems with it.
Maintaining good security on the mobile phone is essential and protecting it with the different privacy options depending on the device you have, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, but there are also tips and advice that you can follow to keep your data safe and that they do not steal your information or your account.
Activate 2-Step Verification
Two-step verification in WhatsApp allows you to add an extra touch of security to your account in the messaging application. What this method does is that it is not enough to verify your phone in WhatsApp, but you must also enter a six-digit PIN code that will make it much more secure.
To enable 2-Step Verification, follow a series of instructions:
- Open WhatsApp
- Go to Settings / Configuration
- Choose the option "Account"
- Click on "Two-Step Verification"
- Choose the option "Activate"
Once you enable two-step verification, you will be able to enter your email and it will be at that address that you will receive a link to retrieve the verification PIN code if you have forgotten it. Although it is advisable that you bet on a combination of numbers that you will remember, given the importance that this code will have in your life from now on.
As explained from WhatsApp, if you have two-step verification activated and you do not have your code, they will have to spend a total of seven days without using the messaging application to verify the number again.
Retrieve PIN code
Forgot your WhatsApp verification PIN code? You can recover it by following a few simple steps that we explain below. From time to time or when you change SIM, a window will appear for you to confirm that it is you, with the verification code.
- Go to two-step authentication
- Click on the link "Forgot your PIN code?"
- Choose "Turn off two-step verification"
- It will send us a message to the configured email
- Open this link to restore access to WhatsApp
Once you have deactivated it, simply reactivate with a new PIN.
Protect your mobile
It will seem obvious but the more security there is on your smartphone, the more secure your WhatsApp account will be. Therefore, it is more than advisable that you activate all the possible screen lock options that the device allows:
- PIN code to unlock the screen
- Fingerprint Unlock
- Lock through facial recognition
- Iris recognition to unlock the screen
- Unlocking patterns
Not only protect your WhatsApp but also your mobile. It will depend on the phone itself but generally you can find it in the phone's settings, following these steps:
- Open Settings
- Go to Biometrics and password / Privacy
- Activate the available options
It will depend on the mobile that offers some options or others but generally there will be screen lock keys or PIN. The most modern (practically all today) will offer you unlocking with fingerprint ID or with facial recognition even in mid-range or even entry-level models. This will be an extra security step for your WhatsApp when it comes to protecting chats, contacts, etc.
Fingerprint lock on WhatsApp
The messaging application has been allowing you to activate the fingerprint lock for some time. Regardless of the lock you have on your smartphone screen, you can activate this option and you will have to use your fingerprint to open conversations or access settings. This way you will have double protection on your mobile phone so that no one accesses your chats.
To activate it, follow these steps:
- Go to WhatsApp
- Click on the three dots in the upper right corner
- Access Settings
- Go to Account
- Choose Privacy
- Go to Fingerprint Lock
- Activate the option
- Follow the instructions and place your finger on the fingerprint to activate it
From that moment, even if your screen is unlocked, you will need to use your fingerprint to access WhatsApp. And you can choose how often WhatsApp will automatically block:
- Immediately (as soon as you close it)
- After a minute
- After thirty minutes
This option will also allow you if you want to have a preview of the sender and the text in the notifications of new messages or if you prefer to keep them hidden. If you deactivate the option, you will not see who writes you or what writes you.
Don't share the verification code
Don't fall for scams or share your WhatsApp verification code with anyone. When you install the application or log in, you will receive a six-digit code on your mobile. Do not tell anyone or trust any email or application that asks you since the messaging application will never ask you to share it.
Beware of WhatsApp Web
WhatsApp Web is useful and practical when we are in the office and we do not want to look at our mobile to consult our conversations, for example. But if we are using WhatsApp Web on a computer that is shared with someone, we run the risk of leaving the account open and that others can access to read our conversations.
If you have a WhatsApp account on WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp for desktop, close all sessions from your phone periodically: every day, for example, or when you have stopped using them and want to make sure they have been closed. You can do it from your mobile remotely and it will only take a few seconds:
- Go to WhatsApp
- Click on the three dots in the upper right corner
- Choose WhatsApp Web
- Click on "Close all sessions"
Activate security notifications
WhatsApp conversations are end-to-end encrypted with a security code that the people in that chat have. If the security code changes, it is because that security chat has been accessed from a new phone or a new device. And you can configure WhatsApp to notify you in that case.
- Go to WhatsApp
- Click in the upper right corner
- Access Settings
- Choose Account
- Go to Security
- Check the option "Show security notifications "
Cloud backup
You can set up a backup in the cloud that allows you to recover your messages, photos and conversations even if your phone is lost , stolen or you change devices. But if you are concerned about privacy, you can disable backup on Google Drive because it doesn't protect your messages and they aren't end-to-end encrypted. An encryption is applied in which Google is in charge of storing the keys and in which they are kept illegible but that allows the violation of privacy in case, for example, that the authorities request the keys in case of legal processes that affect to the user in question.
If you want a more complete and secure privacy, deactivate the copies:
- Go to WhatsApp
- Choose Settings
- Go to Settings
- Go to Chats
- Choose Chat Backup
- Go to Save to Google Drive
- Check the option Never
Choose who can see your information
Another of the basics to protect your WhatsApp account is to choose who can see your profile picture, your connection time or your statuses. Check the option "only my contacts" or "nobody" if you want to prevent strangers from having information about you.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Go to WhatsApp
- Open Settings
- Go to Privacy
- Access Who can see my personal information
You can change four options:
- Last time
- Profile picture
- Info
- Condition
In each of the options you can mark:
- Everyone
- My contacts
- No one
Choose one of the last two so that strangers cannot see what you upload to WhatsApp if they are not in your calendar and they have your phone stored.
Lock the groups
Not allowing anyone to add you to groups is also a practical way to protect your WhatsApp account and even your smartphone from viruses or spam. Recently, you can choose who has permission to add you to WhatsApp groups . If you are added to one, you will receive an invitation privately and you can choose whether or not to accept it. But you will not enter any group with strangers if you do not want to.
- Go to WhatsApp
- Access Settings
- Choose Privacy
- Go to Groups
- Choose in "Who can add me to groups"
You will have three options to choose from:
- Everyone
- My contacts
- My contacts except
If you want no one to add you without authorization , you can:
- Check the option My contacts except ...
- Open the list of WhatsApp chats
- Click on the check button in the upper right corner
- Confirm with the green button on the screen
Prevent your messages from being read in notifications
If we are concerned about the privacy of the messages we receive or send through WhatsApp then surely there will be one thing that you hate with all your desire. We refer to that moment in which we are showing someone something from our mobile and a WhatsApp message arrives that can be read or at least intuited what it says from the notification itself.
If we do not want anyone to be able to find out what they write to us through notifications, all we have to do is enter WhatsApp Settings and then Notifications . There we must look for the High priority Notifications setting if we have a mobile with Android operating system
on iOS
The step will be the same if you have an iPhone but changing the last step: "Preview" if we have an iPhone. In any case, we deactivate this option to prevent someone from reading our WhatsApp messages through notifications.
Export and delete private conversations
Although as we have already mentioned previously there are several options to protect our chats, even with our own fingerprint, the truth is that to prevent someone from accessing any of our conversations on WhatsApp we can send them to us or export them from the messaging app and later delete them to that there is no trace of them, but without losing the messages.
To do this, what we have to do is open WhatsApp, enter the chat in question and follow the steps shown below:
- We touch on the menu button within the chat.
- Then click on the More option.
- And in the next menu we select the Export chat option.
Next we will be shown a small window in which we will be asked if we want to add the shared multimedia files in that conversation. That is, in addition to exporting all the messages, WhatsApp also offers us to send all the files shared in that chat so that we do not lose them.
If we choose yes, we must bear in mind that the data package to be exported will increase and that the process could take a little longer.
Once the messaging app prepares everything to export the messages and files, if we have chosen so, we must choose through which app we want to send them , for example by email.
We select the mail app for our phone and wait for it to be sent. In our email we will receive a message with several attachments, one with all the messages from that chat and next to that, others with the images, videos or voice notes shared in the chat.
Once we have verified that we have everything, we can go back to WhatsApp and completely delete that conversation so that no one can access it.
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