Security News > 2023 > November > WhatsApp Introduces New Privacy Feature to Protect IP Address in Calls

Meta-owned WhatsApp is officially rolling out a new privacy feature in its messaging service called "Protect IP Address in Calls" that masks users' IP addresses to other parties by relaying the calls through its servers.

"Calls are end-to-end encrypted, so even if a call is relayed through WhatsApp servers, WhatsApp cannot listen to your calls," the company said in a statement shared with The Hacker News.

It's worth noting that the "Protect IP Address in Calls" feature has been under development since at least late August 2023, as reported earlier by WABetaInfo.

"With this feature enabled, all your calls will be relayed through WhatsApp's servers, ensuring that other parties in the call cannot see your IP address and subsequently deduce your general geographical location," WhatsApp said.

The feature builds upon a previously announced privacy feature referred to as "Silence Unknown Callers," which aims to not only protect users from unwanted contact but also minimize the risk of zero-click attacks and spyware.

WhatsApp's implementation of silenced calls involves the use of a custom protocol that's designed to reduce the processing of attacker-controlled data by incorporating what's called a privacy token.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2023/11/whatsapp-introduces-new-privacy-feature.html