WhatsApp is moving ahead with its usernames change, with a new update now hiding user phone numbers entirely when viewing their WhatsApp profile.
As you can see in this example, posted by Android Police, WhatsApp is currently developing a new profile display that will hide user phone numbers, and will only display your chosen username in the app instead.
WhatsApp’s been working on the username update for some time, as it looks to move more into line with the social media style approach to identity, while also offering more protection for user phone numbers.
Usernames add another layer of separation between your online and IRL identities, which can be particularly valuable when dealing with businesses, or people that you don’t personally know in the app.
Back in November, WhatsApp began informing users of the coming option:
The update also means that brands will be able to create a more unique identity in the app, which can expand your branding efforts.
The change also comes after a team of Austrian researchers uncovered a potential flaw in WhatsApp’s security, which could enable spammers and scammers to gather large databases of phone numbers based on this feature.
The research team used a range of random phone number combinations in the app to extract over 3.5 billion users’ phone numbers from the platform.
WhatsApp has since confirmed that it has addressed this concern, based on these findings, and has reassured users that there’s no evidence of the process being used as a data gathering option. But the switch to usernames will further plug this gap either way, and ensure that WhatsApp users are not exposing their contact info unwittingly.
So, time to get ready for WhatsApp usernames, which will seemingly soon be a key identifier in the app.
