WhatsApp has two features that allow users to delete messages after they are sent. The first, which was introduced in 2017, is the “Delete for everyone” option. This is particularly useful if you sent a message to the wrong group or if the message you sent contains a mistake. Messages that are successfully deleted for everyone will be replaced with: “This message was deleted”.
The second option is something WhatsApp calls “Disappearing messages”. Unlike ‘Delete For Everyone, this option can only be enabled for use. Turning disappearing messages ‘on’ will enable you to send messages that disappear after 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days depending on your settings.
Despite these features for deleting messages on WhatsApp, there are third-party apps that can allow you to read deleted messages sent by others. A well-known app with a 4.5 rating on Google’s Play Store is WAMR. The software owner claims it has the ability to retrieve lost or deleted WhatsApp messages.
WAMR, which currently has 50 million downloads, claims it can also recover media files from WhatsApp conversations. It saves WhatsApp messages by contact name and notifies the user when a message is deleted.
It’s possible you’re already excited about this new discovery and would like to go download the app. There are a few things you need to know before you take this step. Third-party apps pose a threat to the data on your device. WhatsApp chats or messages have end-to-end encryption, making it difficult for these third-party apps to encrypt and have access to them.
Therefore, an app such as WARM will capture the notifications on WhatsApp and save them somewhere on your device. As so, if someone sends a message and immediately deletes the chat, a copy is captured by the third-party app and kept in a database. WARM claims it backs up the messages based on the notification history.
“WAMR”, according to Information Security Newspaper, “requests for comprehensive rights from a user, including storage, media files, Wi-Fi connection information, and complete network access,” citing data protection experts at the International Institute of Cyber Security.
These rights can be used to access data saved by other apps on a smartphone, potentially resulting in the loss or misuse of a user’s personal information like contact lists, internet search history, and sensitive media files. While WAMR may not be a harmful software, giving any app permission to read deleted WhatsApp messages involves concerns that should be weighed.
However, if you wish to go ahead and download at your own risk of privacy, HT Tech has a user guide on How to read deleted WhatsApp messages here.
1 Comment
Pingback: WhatsApp Update: A New Time Limit for “Delete For Everyone” is coming! - Innovation Village | Technology, Product Reviews, Business