After a change in its privacy policy that caused an exodus to competing apps like Signal and Telegram, WhatsApp is adding a new layer of security to the process of linking an account to a computer. Facebook’s messaging service is promoting an update that will allow users to take advantage of biometrics on their phones for authentication.
Any device compatible with your biometric authentication – be it fingerprint, face or iris unlock – can benefit from this security feature. Conventional options like PIN, pattern, or password unlock are not supported. What is worth noting is that the application will only ask for biometric data when you link the account to a computer for the first time.
WhatsApp is also being extremely cautious with its communications this time and has already clarified that the company cannot access the biometric information stored by your device’s OS.
The new update does not yet appear to be on the air, but you should expect it in the next few days. The company also promises that it will be “adding a lot more functionality” to its desktop and web clients by 2021. This could be a benchmark for support for voice and video calls or login on multiple devices.
Security of device linking
Although WhatsApp was created for the mobile phone, today hundreds of millions of people worldwide use WhatsApp on their computers through our desktop applications and WhatsApp Web.
This year, we’ll be adding a lot more functionality to our Mac and Windows apps, as well as the web. We want WhatsApp Web and desktop to be as robust as our mobile apps, so that people can communicate privately and securely in the way that is best for them, in their hands or on their computers.
Today we are putting even more security on WhatsApp Web and desktop, adding an additional layer of protection when you want to link your WhatsApp account to your computer.
To do this, we are taking advantage of facial or digital unlocking, when available on the mobile phone’s operating system. To link WhatsApp Web or Desktop to your WhatsApp account, you will now be asked to use facial or fingerprint unlocking on the phone before scanning a phone’s QR code to link the device.
This will limit the chance for a house or office colleague (when we have them again) to link devices to your WhatsApp account without you. This is based on our security measures in place today, which display a warning on your phone whenever a Web / Desktop login occurs, and the ability to unlink devices from your phone at any time.
Face and fingerprint authentication takes place on your device in order to preserve privacy – by design, WhatsApp cannot access the biometric information stored by your device’s operating system.
The new security update for link devices will be released, along with a visual redesign for the WhatsApp web page on phones, for users with compatible devices in the coming weeks.
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Additional Fund
- To link WhatsApp Web, Desktop or Portal to your WhatsApp account, if you have enabled biometric authentication on your device, this update means that you will now need to verify your identity using facial or digital phone unlock.
- After verifying your identity, you can set up WhatsApp Web as normal by opening WhatsApp Web in the browser of the linked device and scanning a QR code from the phone.
- By design, WhatsApp cannot access the biometric information stored by your device’s operating system. Authentication is conducted by the operating system of the user’s device (using the biometric identifier stored there), which informs WhatsApp whether the verification has been completed. This authentication process will only occur if the user has configured this feature on his device, which involves giving his consent for the processing of his biometric data by the company behind the operating system.
- WhatsApp uses the same standard biometric authentication APIs as other secure applications – such as banking applications – use
- This additional layer of security is enabled by default for all users who have enabled biometric authentication on their phones. Since biometric authentication for WhatsApp Web is enabled by default on compatible devices, there is no option to remove it unless the user disables biometric authentication on their device.
- The update also provides a visual update of the “WhatsApp Web” page on Android and iOS applications, where users will see an updated design to more easily link new devices and manage existing ones.
- * Compatible devices are:
- iPhone: all devices that operate on iOS 14 and above with Touch ID or Face ID (iPhone 5s onwards)
- Android: any device that supports biometric authentication (facial unlock, fingerprint unlock or iris unlock)
