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- WhatsApp allows users to connect their phone to its web and desktop apps using biometrics.
- This means that you can now log in using face, fingerprint or iris scans depending on the device you have.
- WhatsApp said all data is processed by a phone’s operating system so it can’t see it.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
WhatsApp is adding functionality to its web application to allow users to sign by scanning their face, fingerprint or eyes.
WhatsApp announced the new feature on Thursday, which it described as an additional layer of security for its WhatsApp web and desktop services.
At the moment, to use WhatsApp Web or Desktop, users need to link it to their phone account by scanning a QR code. This new feature would add biometric login to compatible devices as an optional additional layer of security.
WhatsApp has stated that on Apple devices with iOS14, users will be able to use Touch ID or Face ID. Android phones will be able to use Face Unlock, Fingerprint Unlock or Iris Unlock.
The announcement comes at a sensitive time for WhatsApp, which is still reeling from a huge user privacy backlash over a new set of terms and conditions it sent out earlier this month.
“WhatsApp does not see your face or fingerprints,” the company said in its statement announcing the new biometric login feature. In an FAQ, the company states that because the user’s device manages biometric information, WhatsApp does not have access to the data.
“Authentication is handled by your device’s operating system using the biometric data stored there. WhatsApp cannot access the biometric information stored by your device’s operating system,” he said. declared.
“If they use standard APIs [Application Programming Interfaces] for biometrics, all of this can be done in a way that shouldn’t raise red flags, ”Eerke Boiten, professor of cybersecurity at De Montfort University, told Insider.
“Best practices come in a form that is scanned and then encrypted (meaning it cannot be reversed) and stored on the user’s device, and I expect all standard biometric APIs on phones do just that. The link that WhatsApp insists on between phones and WhatsApp Web is then essential, because the phone contains the stored biometric image which is verified, not a central server, ”he added.
Dr Catherine Flick, computer scientist and privacy expert at De Montfort, agreed with Boiten that the announcement did not sound the alarm.
“If it’s facial recognition / etc. built-in, that’s fine and standard with phone operating systems (and good to have as a second level of privacy even if your phone is unlocked),” she says. .
Adding biometric scanning isn’t the last feature WhatsApp plans to add this year, as it told TechCrunch it plans to expand with more features for the WhatsApp web and desktop.
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