WhatsApp Messenger

Users can decide to share their live location inside of individual or group chats, for a certain period of time. As with all other WhatsApp message content, this feature is end-to-end encrypted. It needs to be activated manually either inside of a user’s phone settings or within WhatsApp’s own settings, so we recommend parents check both of these to ensure that location sharing is not permitted.

Last seen and online status
‘Last seen’ is a timestamp that shows all other users the last time you were active inside your WhatsApp account, and ‘online’ shows your contacts if you are currently using the app. Both of these features are set to ‘Everyone’ by default; however, users can manage their online visibility within the app’s privacy settings to enable only their contacts, select contacts or nobody to see their WhatsApp activity and status. Please see the ‘How To’ section below for further instructions on how to manage these settings.

Status message
This feature can be customised to show any text, photo, GIF, or video that a user wants to share with their contacts, and will disappear after 24 hours. By default, status updates are shared with all contacts; however, this can be changed within the app’s Privacy section. Users can also share their status as a Facebook Story, and on other social media platforms as well. We recommend that parents discuss this feature when talking about online safety with their children, particularly the type of personal information that is appropriate to share with others online.

Read receipt
The sign of a small blue-colored double-tick in the bottom-right corner of every WhatsApp message indicates that it has been read by the recipient. This feature is always ‘on’ in group chats and can’t be disabled there, but it can be disabled inside individual chats. Disabling it means that the user will know when their own message was delivered but not read, and also, their contacts won’t know when their messages have been read by the user.

The Last Seen and Online Status features, as well as Read Receipt, can be utilised to set some healthy digital boundaries around young people’s technology use and how available/accessible they are to their contacts. We recommend parents speak to their children about these helpful boundary-setting tools inside WhatsApp.

Content saved to camera roll
All images, videos and audio files received by the user are automatically saved to the user’s camera roll by default. This feature can be turned off within Chat settings. You will find the instructions for doing this in the ‘How To’ section below.

WhatsApp’s account security features include end-to-end encryption, and users also have the option of enabling two-step verification. Parents who wish to supervise their children’s messaging activity can activate this feature and use either a pin, fingerprint or face ID to lock and unlock the app. Find out more in the ‘How Tos’ section below.

Users can send photos and videos with the ‘view once’ feature set, meaning that the messages will disappear from the chat after the recipient has opened them, or after 14 days if they remain unopened. Additionally, the photos and videos will not be saved to the recipient’s device, regardless of their settings.

Users should be aware that recipients can still screenshot or record ‘view once’ content (although privacy features to prevent this from happening are in development) and that offensive ‘view once’ content can be reported to (and read by) WhatsApp, even if it has disappeared from the chat.

As with all messaging apps, online bullying can be a potential risk. Although most children use WhatsApp to communicate in safe, fun, and positive ways, there have been incidents where participating in online group chats has led to bullying behaviour. Before being allowed to use WhatsApp, children should feel comfortable knowing they can go to their parents or another trusted adult for help if they ever feel upset or distressed while using the app. Taking a screenshot of the communication they have found to be upsetting or inappropriate would also be helpful; however, parents should ensure their child knows never to take a screenshot of any image containing nudity, even if it is only for evidence.

Users can block others with whom they don’t wish to interact, or those they find to be offensive or inappropriate. Please find instructions for blocking users below in the ‘How To’ section.

WhatsApp has a disappearing messages feature which, when activated, allows chats to automatically disappear after either 24 hours, seven days, or 90 days. This feature can be turned on in the Chat settings of WhatsApp for each individual chat, and applies to both one-on-one and group chats.

Like Snapchat, the nature of disappearing content can make WhatsApp a tougher platform for parents to supervise, and we recommend parents frequently remind their children that all forms of online content can be saved and downloaded (for example, through a screenshot), as well as shared beyond the individuals or groups for which they were originally intended.

This style of messaging can provide a good opportunity for children to become more skilled at recognising the types of content that their contacts may want to keep private or only visible to a limited audience. It’s also important to note that even within disappearing messages, WhatsApp’s default settings save all forms of media received on the user’s device. To deactivate this setting, please see the ‘How To’ section below.

By default, WhatsApp has the 'Who can add me to groups' preference set to 'Everyone'. This is problematic, as it gives any WhatsApp user (anywhere in the world) the option to add your child into a group chat without their permission. For safety, it is important that parents ensure this feature is set to ‘My Contacts’, or ‘My Contacts Except…’. For step-by-step instructions, please see the 'How To's' section below.

Even after changing this setting, parents should bear in mind that WhatsApp groups each have a unique invitation link, which can be sent via email, SMS, or through another platform, even to users who are not on WhatsApp. Consequently, they should ensure their child is aware of this, and that they teach them to think critically about joining different groups online, regardless of the platform.

Thinking critically in terms of which groups to leave or not join will also be an important topic to discuss; legitimate contacts can add users to any group they’d like on WhatsApp without asking for consent first.