Now, hide your IP address in calls with this new WhatsApp privacy feature. (Bloomberg)

Unmask Your Privacy: WhatsApp Introduces New Feature to Protect Your IP Address!

Meta developers have recently taken on the task of introducing numerous new features on WhatsApp. After a long wait, the platform has finally enabled the option to send high-definition photos and videos. Additionally, there have been reports of WhatsApp potentially allowing users to create alternative profiles, with the feature currently being tested. Furthermore, WhatsApp might soon introduce another feature that focuses on enhancing privacy and ensuring a more secure user experience. Stay informed about the upcoming developments.

New WhatsApp feature

WhatsApp revealed in its blog post that calling on the platform uses peer-to-peer connections, which ensures faster data transfer and the best possible voice quality. However, it has one major drawback – it requires users to reveal their IP addresses to each other. This means that some of your information, such as the data provider and geographic location, will be visible to the other participant.

To mitigate this, WhatsApp has introduced a new privacy setting called “Protect IP address on calls”. Instead of a P2P connection, your calls are relayed through a server, which means your IP addresses are masked and not visible to other participants. While group calls have always been routed through a server, that was not the case with individual calls, but not anymore.

WhatsApp said: “We have introduced a new feature on WhatsApp that allows you to protect your IP address during calls. When this feature is enabled, all your calls will be routed through WhatsApp servers, ensuring that other parties to the call cannot see your IP address and deduce from it your general geographic location. This new feature provides an extra layer of privacy and security specifically targeted at our most privacy-conscious users.”

The platform has also announced that all calls are still end-to-end encrypted, meaning that no one on WhatsApp can listen to them. The “Protect IP address on calls” feature is rolling out to Android and iOS users in stages, so it’s possible that you won’t see it on your device right away.