It looks like Meta is going to add another level of privacy protection to WhatsApp, which will stop users from taking screenshots of your profile picture.
However, this upcoming feature was discovered in the most recent WhatsApp beta on Android by WABetaInfo. The Privacy section of the Settings menu will contain it. With the blocking tool at their disposal, they tried to take a screenshot of a profile picture but were unable to. A notice at the bottom of the screen informed the publication that they were unable to take a screenshot “due to app restrictions.”
As explained earlier, WhatApp introduced the option to stop users from saving “others’ profile photos” about five years ago. Its purpose was to stop dishonest people from sharing photos without the owner’s permission, but screenshotting gets around this entirely.
According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is able to further solidify “the concept of user privacy and consent” on its service by outright prohibiting the ability to screenshot. It seems to oppose the use of people’s photos by said bad actors in con games, spoofs, or harassment.
“Stating, is taking unauthorized screenshots of a WhatsApp profile picture really that big of an issue?” may be on your mind right now.
It appears that taking screenshots of profile photos is a minor worry held by a small percentage of users rather than a significant issue affecting the majority of users. People have expressed their concerns about this issue in a number of posts on Reddit that we have seen. Even more specifically, a question about finding out who screenshotted someone’s WhatsApp profile picture was posed on the Privacy subreddit.
Of course, none of these instances originate from official surveys or research projects supported by Meta. As far as we can tell, there haven’t been any large-scale studies delving into this phenomenon. But at the very least, by catering to this specific segment of the user base, it might give WhatsApp an advantage over competitors. Neither Telegram nor Signal have a feature like this. Plus, having the option doesn’t hurt.
Installing the WhatsApp beta version is the first step towards testing out the new tool. You can then join the Google Beta Program.
