Besides end-to-end encryption which guarantees coding of messages as you type them on your device to WhatsApp servers and then to the other guy’s phone, WhatsApp could be adding another layer of security. According to Android Authority, they instant messaging service may soon be adding passcodes to chats to further protect you online.
“The details were spotted as part of a text translation program for WhatsApp, to convert strings from English into Dutch. Phrases to be translated include “Enter the current six-digit passcode:“, “Passcodes don’t match. Try again.“, and “Enter a recovery email address“, which are all pretty good indicators about what could be heading our way soon.”
You may see this in your next update but one thing we’re not sure of is whether it’ll be mandatory like the end-to-end encryption which is turned on by default without any options to turn it off. Allowing this feature to be optional could make users who already feel their device passcode is already enough to protect their personal chats and files.
As governments continually challenge encryption on social media, this may just provide additional layer of privacy to users. This comes as WhatsApp has been heavily criticised for its plans to share data of its over 1 billion users with Facebook which acquired it in 2014.