Some good news for all people living in countries like Iran and the likes—WhatsApp has added proxy support to bypass restrictions. If you live in one of those regions or countries where the government does not encourage the use of WhatsApp, you can now bypass the block and use the service as normal.
In a blog post today, WhatsApp said “Choosing a proxy enables you to connect to WhatsApp through servers set up by volunteers and organizations around the world dedicated to helping people communicate freely.”
With a proxy, you can connect to WhatsApp through servers set up by volunteers and organizations around the world. These organizations are dedicated to helping people communicate easily without restrictions.
“Connecting via proxy maintains the high level of privacy and security that WhatsApp provides. Your personal messages will still be protected by end-to-end encryption — ensuring they stay between you and the person you’re communicating with and are not visible to anyone in between, not the proxy servers, WhatsApp, or Meta.”
To set it up, you will need to enter a proxy server address that can help you to track down through friends or by scouring social media as soon as the news of the feature becomes widely known.
So, does this new approach affect its end-to-end security? WhatsApp said no! according to the company, all proxied chats will still be protected with the end-to-end encryption. What that means is that no one can have access to your chats with friends, businesses and family, while being proxied.
“Our wish for 2023 is that these internet shutdowns never occur,” the company said. “Disruptions like we’ve seen in Iran for months on end deny people’s human rights and cut people off from receiving urgent help. Though in case these shutdowns continue, we hope this solution helps people wherever there is a need for secure and reliable communication.”
Still on safety and security on WhatsApp, the company is reportedly working on a new addition to Status. Per WABetaInfo, the chat app could soon add the ability to report a status update on WhatsApp Desktop beta.
Currently, it is possible to report messages and contacts to WhatsApp if you have any issues with some of the messages you have received. If you think such messages have violated WhatsApp’s policy, then you have the right to report them to the moderators.
For Status, there is no link to report a violation, and this might change in the very near future as the company is reportedly working to add a feature to enable you do that.
