New Delhi: WhatsApp is expanding its privacy-focused features with new tools designed to improve accessibility and protect users from online scams. The
messaging service already has a feature called ‘Voice Transcripts’, which is converting voice notes into text on a user’s device, and is currently working on a new ‘Scam Alert’ system to help detect potentially fraudulent messages without affecting end-to-end encryption.
The new Scam Alert will give a spotlight to WhatsApp’s emphasis on on-device processing. The company’s goal is to improve security and user privacy by performing all analysis on the user’s smartphone, rather than on remote servers. The feature is in development for Android, according to data from WhatsApp beta tracking site WABetaInfo, and will be available for beta testing in the future.
Voice Transcripts: Convert audio messages into text
Users who don’t want to hear a voice message can view their content in text using the Voice Transcripts function in WhatsApp. Users can take a voice note transcript by holding down the finger to the voice note and clicking the “Transcribe” button.
This feature is extremely helpful when listening to audio is problematic, as in noisy areas, public spaces, or meetings. The programme generates a transcript of the conversation which will only be available to the recipient and not to anyone else.
On-device processing keeps conversations private
Voice Transcripts are generated with the help of the speech recognition technology that it has built, which is done on the device used by the user. As the audio stays in the phone, it is not uploaded to WhatsApp or Meta servers.
This way the feature will work with WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption system. Language packs must be downloaded by users and the transcription process will be done at the user’s location, with privacy maintained.
WhatsApp working on new scam alert feature
WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp is also working on a feature called Scam Alert to detect suspicious messages from contacts you don’t know. This feature is currently being tested in the WhatsApp beta version for Android, 2.26.22.2.
The system will process the incoming messages on the device itself and alert users of messages that are likely to be fraudulent. The content of the messages is not sent to WhatsApp or any other external servers, as the processing is done locally.
Warnings will give users more control
If WhatsApp detects a message you might consider a scam, it will show a warning within the chat, which will read: “The message may be a scam. The user will then be given the choice of blocking and reporting the sender or continuing the conversation if they trust the sender.
Instead of blacklisting interactions, WhatsApp plans to offer users more details for them to consider when deciding whether to interact with unknown contacts.
Activity reports will remain on the device
WhatsApp is also developing a transparency feature for generating local reports indicating the time they had detected a scam alert. The logs will be kept on the user’s gadget and will not be given to WhatsApp.
Should no suspicious activity be identified within a period of selection, a report will show that no Scam Alert events were identified. These records will also be accessible to the users in the app’s settings menu.
Optional feature, disabled by default
Scam Alert will be a voluntary tool and will not be turned on automatically. Those wishing to have the extra security will have to manually enable it in WhatsApp settings.
It is still in development and not ready for beta testing. Currently, WhatsApp hasn’t announced any release date, but WABetaInfo states that the tool should be coming in a future beta release before rolling out to stable versions.
