WhatsApp has said that it is putting even more security into WhatsApp Web and desktop, adding an additional layer of protection when you want to link your WhatsApp account to your computer.
WhatsApp is taking advantage of face or fingerprint unlock where it is available on the mobile phone operating system. In order to link WhatsApp Web or Desktop to the WhatsApp account you will now be asked to use your face or fingerprint unlock on your phone, before scanning a QR code from the phone to link your device.
This will limit the chance that a housemate or officemate can link devices to your WhatsApp account without your consent. This builds on WhatsApp’s existing security measures, which pop up a notice in the phone whenever a Web/Desktop login occurs, and the ability to unlink devices from one’s phone at any time.
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‘The face and fingerprint authentication takes place on your device in a privacy preserving manner – by design, WhatsApp cannot access the biometric information stored by your device’s operating system’, as per the company.
The new security update for linking devices will be rolling out, alongside a visual redesign to the WhatsApp Web page on phones, to users with compatible devices over the coming weeks.