WhatsApp users can now lock their “most intimate” chats

With the messaging platform’s new Chat Lock feature, you can rest assured that your mom won’t accidentally see what she’s not supposed to see.

WhatsApp has announced that it’s introducing the ability for users to lock some of their chats. The new feature, called Chat Lock, will add one more layer of security to “protect your most intimate conversations,” it said.

Locking a chat will take that particular thread out of the inbox and put it in a separate folder that can only be accessed with a password or biometric such as a fingerprint. It will also automatically hide the contents of that chat in notifications.

“We think this feature will be great for people who have reason to share their phones from time to time with a family member or those moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives,” WhatsApp said in a blog post.

A chat can be locked by simply tapping the name of a person or group and selecting the lock option.

“Over the next few months we’re going to be adding more options for Chat Lock, including locking for companion devices and creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a unique password different from the one you use for your phone,” WhatsApp said.

With eight in 10 Americans confessing to gadget snooping, this will be a welcome addition to the world’s most popular messaging service.

Last week, Twitter rolled out encrypted direct messages for its Blue subscribers, bringing it closer in line to Meta-owned chat platforms such as Messenger and WhatsApp.