WhatsApp Launches Fading Photos "View Once" | Gadget theory

WhatsApp is launching a new feature that will allow users to share photos and videos that will disappear after being viewed. Once the recipient has received the message, the “view once” feature will delete it and not save it to the recipient’s phone. WhatsApp says the feature was created to give “users even more control over their privacy.”

These WhatsApp messages will disappear

While this feature isn’t new (think Snapchat), there are still concerns that it will introduce problems and help the evidence of child abuse go away. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) already faces an ongoing dilemma with Facebook, the parent company of WhatsApp, over encrypted messaging issues.

Encrypted messages create situations where police and investigators cannot see messages “in transit”, and only the sender and recipient can see. Automatic deletion of messages also means phones seized by authorities would no longer contain any evidence.

Alison Trew, the charity’s senior online safety officer, said: “This display feature could put children at even greater risk by giving offenders another tool to avoid detection and erase evidence. , while efforts to tackle child sexual abuse are already hampered by encryption.

Messages that disappear raise some questions

WhatsApp announced the new feature as being able to be used by regular consumers for disposable but still personal photos, such as trying on clothes and asking a friend what they look like, or perhaps sending a password.

WhatsApp said in a statement, “Not everything we share needs to become a permanent digital record. On many phones, just taking a photo means that it will take up space in your camera roll forever.

As is the case with other apps like Snapchat, it is possible to take a screenshot of the disappearing photo which is a way for people to save the photos anyway. The new feature also includes some limitations, including the fact that photos will not be saved to a phone’s gallery, media cannot be transferred, shared or saved, and the photo or video sent will be automatically deleted if it is not open for two weeks. to be sent.

Additionally, within 7 days of sending any text, the message will automatically disappear for both sender and recipient, which presents a legal challenge in the UK as UK law states that information relating to ” substantive discussions or differences ”should be preserved in the historical archives.

This raises questions about members of government using WhatsApp, leading a campaigning company to accuse some government officials of “government by text”.

These disappearing messages complicate things legally