WhatsApp is increasing the privacy of its service by adding a new option to the Last Seen feature. The new option allows users to hide Last Seen from unwanted people.
The last seen feature can show the last time someone opened the WhatsApp application. The problem is that not all users want to see their online activities known to others, let alone those they don't know.
But luckily, according to a WABetaInfo report, WhatsApp is reportedly developing a new privacy tool that gives users control over who can see parts of their profile.
Currently WhatsApp only provides three options for who can see Last Seen, namely Everyone, Your Contacts and Nobody. Based on the screenshot of WABetaInfo there will be an option My Contact Except...
This new option allows users to exclude certain contacts from seeing their status. So only people who are considered close can see the user's online status.
But disabling Last Seen will go both ways. This means that if you hide it from a group of people in your contact list, WhatsApp will hide their information in return.
Although this new Last Seen option looks to be running on iOS, there is no word yet on when WhatsApp will release it. Hopefully in the near future because this feature is very useful for users who want to maintain privacy from people they do not know.