WhatsApp to let users go by usernames, not phone numbers

WhatsApp says the feature is designed to give its three billion users a new layer of control over who can contact them.WhatsApp will let users go by usernames instead of phone numbers, closing a longstanding privacy gap on the app used by more than three billion people.The Meta-owned platform said on Monday that it has begun letting users reserve unique usernames before a wider rollout later this year when people will be able to choose to be found and contacted only by their handles.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4US asks Anthropic to block global access to top AI models: Why it matterslist 2 of 4Why do AI models struggle with online hate speech detection?list 3 of 4US House committee reaches bipartisan deal on social media rules for kidslist 4 of 4China takes US crown for world’s fastest supercomputerend of listWhatsApp said the change was designed as a core privacy feature with no public directory of usernames and no autocomplete suggestions, meaning users will need to know someone’s exact username to reach them for the first time.WhatsApp offers end-to-end encrypted communication across smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. Until now, it has allowed users to be contacted by anyone who has their phone number.The app said in a blog post that over the “coming months”, users will get the option to be found and contacted only by their username, and not their number. It wasn’t more specific about the timeline.“We have designed this as a core privacy feature,” Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s vice president of product, told reporters.“People will need to know your exact username to contact you for the first time,” she said.WhatsApp’s current privacy settings are limited to blocking individual users and silencing unknown callers.The app also allows users to add a profile name, but that’s only displayed in chat groups for other people who don’t have the user’s contact info saved.A scramble for unique usernamesWhile people in the United States still prefer text messaging to WhatsApp, the app is widely used in Europe, Asia and much of the rest of the world.