WhatsApp has announced a new feature that will significantly improve the protection of users' personal data. The company said it has already started the process of booking usernames, and the feature will be available by the end of this year. Until now, in order to contact a user on WhatsApp, it was necessary to know their phone number. With the new system, people will be able to choose to be found and messaged using just a username, without revealing their phone number.
The company also noted that there will be no public list of usernames in the application, and the system will not offer possible options during the search. To contact someone for the first time, you will need to know their exact username. Usernames must be between 3 and 35 characters. In order to reduce the risk of creating fake identities, WhatsApp will protect the usernames of famous people, government agencies and other public organizations so that they cannot be taken by others.
