(CMR) WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging app, is now adding biometric authentication as a new security feature for those using its web and desktop version.
On Thursday, January 28, the company said it would allow people to add fingerprint, face, or eye scan to use WhatsApp on desktop or web by linking it to their mobile app, to be used alongside the existing QR code authentication, Tech Crunch reported.
This means you can now login using face, fingerprint, or iris scans, depending on what device you have. WhatsApp said a phone's operating system processes all the data, so it doesn't see any of it.
“The authentication is handled by your device's operating system using the biometrics stored there. WhatsApp can't access the biometric information stored by your device's operating system,” WhatsApp said in a statement.
WhatsApp said users with Apple devices with iOS14 would be able to use Touch ID or Face ID. Android phones will be able to use Face Unlock, Fingerprint Unlock, or Iris Unlock.
This new feature comes at a sensitive moment for WhatsApp, which is still reeling from backlash over a new set of terms and conditions it sent out earlier this month.
Several users switched to other messaging applications such as Telegram and Signal after WhatsApp's revised privacy policy indicated increased user data sharing with Facebook.
However, WhatsApp has since said that was not the case. The messaging application said there was confusion about the new policy and has opted to delay the new privacy policy.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid