This article was published on April 3, 2019

[Best of 2019] WhatsApp finally lets you prevent people from adding you to their shitty groups


[Best of 2019] WhatsApp finally lets you prevent people from adding you to their shitty groups

WhatsApp’s group conversations can be awfully annoying when you’re dragged into them without your consent. It’s finally rolled out a fix for that, in the form of a new setting that lets you choose who can add you to group chats – and thankfully, there’s also a way to put a stop to this nonsense entirely.

Here’s how you can enable it:

  • Open WhatsApp on your phone, and go to Settings > Accounts > Privacy.
  • Tap on Groups, and select the option that suits you best. The first one will prompt the user adding you to first send an invitation that you can approve:
    – Nobody (this prevents anyone from adding you to a group without an invitation)
    – My contacts (only your contacts can add you to a group without an invitation)
    – Anyone (Anyone can add you to a group without an invitation)If you value your privacy, you’ll want to select either of the first two options.
WhatsApp’s new privacy feature to prevent anyone from adding you to a group without permission

My colleague Abhimanyu and I can confirm that it’s fairly common in India for complete strangers to add you to their groups without your permission. The issue is more important now, since the national elections are coming up and political parties are actively using the platform to spread their propaganda.

It doesn’t hurt that this new setting can also help you stay out of aggravating group conversations with your extended family, and those toxic friends from college you thought you’d finally left behind.

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The privacy setting is rolling out to some users today, and will be available worldwide in a few weeks.

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