WhatsApp is strengthening privacy protocols for community users by introducing an innovative feature that allows members to protect their phone numbers.
In a typical community chat, the identities of participants remain hidden, with the exception of administrators who can see the names of all members. However, this veil of anonymity does not exist when you reply to a message in the community bulletin board, thereby exposing our phone number to the public. The new “Private phone number” feature (Phone Number Privacy) ensures that your contact details will remain hidden.
We should mention that this feature is exclusively available to community members. If you're a community creator or admin, WhatsApp's privacy settings don't allow you to hide your phone number.
You could have experienced the new feature firsthand if you had signed up for the beta versions of the WhatsApp Android app from Google Play Store or for iOS from Apple App Store. At this moment, however, the entries for the beta test have been completed for both stores.
