New Delhi, November 17 – Just days after WhatsApp introduced Blue Ticks, which confirms that a Whatsapp message has been read, the company is testing a way to make it an optional feature.
According to a several users who were using WhatsApp downloaded directly from the site, the latest version of WhatsApp would allow users to turn off the message read receipts.
The feature is still going to be on by default. But users will be able to go into settings of the app and switch it off. This is similar to how WhatsApp implements the “last seen” feature. This too can be turned off.
However, as it is the case with the “last seen” feature, once you turn off the Blue Ticks feature you will neither get the read receipts for the message you sent nor people communicating with you would get the read receipts for their message.
The idea is that the level of privacy that you seek will also be provided to people you communicate with, whether you want it or not. While getting a ‘message read’ receipt is a very convenient it is also fraught with risk to privacy.
There are occasions when even though we have read a message, we like to avoid the conversation. The two Blue Ticks makes it difficult. This led to widespread outrage among WhatsApp users several days ago when the feature was rolled out to users.
-INDIA TODAY
