The renowned messaging app has started the work to introduce fingerprint authentication feature in a future update. The security feature purpose to make it harder for anyone to intercept the personal chats residing inside the WhatsApp.
This mechanism is under development for Android phones. However, the release time is still undisclosed. According to WABetaInfo, the update is in the ‘alpha stage of development’ which is the first phase among the two testing phases.
The security update has already grown the concerns as this will make it harder for law enforcement agencies and government to track the people who are using WhatsApp to carry out illegal or criminal activity. Also, the app was at backlash for the end-to-end encryption feature which means that only the individuals in conversation could see it.
WaBetaInfo tests and reports about the updates before their release. For this security update, the site reports that the new fingerprint authentication feature will come up v2.19.3 for Android. This mechanism will completely protect the app, and anyone could only open the app after applying the authentic fingerprint for the particular account.
But, it is also cleared that the fingerprint authentication will only be applicable on all the WhatsApp chats and not on any particular chat.
Talking on the matter, the former home secretary Amber Rudd told BBC, “We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp and there are plenty of others like that, don’t provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other.”
Also, the wabetainfo has reported in October 2018 that the WhatsApp is working on Touch ID and Face ID features on iOS (the features are still under development and are not released).
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About the Author
Zehra Ali is a Tech Reporter and Journalist. She has done her Masters in Mass Communication. Topics related to cybersecurity, IoT, AI, Big Data and other privacy matters are extensively covered by her on various platforms. You can follow her on twitter.
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