WhatsApp group chats are not as private as a lot of users think as group chats can be found through Google.
It has emerged that these group chats can be found on the search engine, without people necessarily knowing they were part of a chat that was publicly accessible and could be easily found through Google.
Once a user is in a WhatsApp chat- though they found saw a link through the search engine, and have not been intentionally invited, they can have access to all the messages shared in a group and all the members of the group.
WhatsApp has however allayed fears regarding the matter saying that the feature is working as intended as is not a bug. It also warned that users should be careful about what is disseminated in ostensibly private groups since they could be seen by people they don’t know.
The issue has arisen because WhatsApp offers the ability to create an invite link for WhatsApp chats, in the hope of making it easier for people to join conversations. If someone in a group wants to add another user, they only need to share that link, and the person clicking on it will join the conversation.
If they click that link, they will then be able to join the group, without needing permission from anyone inside it.
That means that a conversation may appear private, but could actually be discovered and seen by anyone looking for it on Google.
WhatsApp in a statement said that the feature is operating as expected and that users could avoid the problems by avoiding posting links.
A WhatsApp spokesperson said, “Like all content that is shared in searchable, public channels, invite links that are posted publicly on the internet can be found by other WhatsApp users.
“Links that users wish to share privately with people they know and trust should not be posted on a publicly accessible website.”
When a WhatsApp user creates a group link, the app shows a message indicating that the link should only be shared with people they trust. They are also notified that once the link is created, it can be used by anyone to join the group.
The platform also notifies all users when someone new joins the group chat.
WhatsApp also sends a notification to all users in a chat when someone new joins.
