WhatsApp launches Incognito Chat for private talks with Meta AI

In short: WhatsApp is adding an “Incognito Chat” mode that it says lets you chat with Meta AI without Meta being able to access the conversation.

What happened

WhatsApp said Wednesday that it is launching Incognito Chat, a new way to talk with Meta AI inside WhatsApp. The company says the feature is designed so that Meta cannot see the questions you ask or the answers you get.

Incognito Chat is built on WhatsApp’s “Private Processing” system. In simple terms, it is like putting your AI conversation inside a locked room on Meta’s computers, where the company says it cannot look inside. WhatsApp says it will only be able to see that an account used the feature, not what was said.

WhatsApp also said Incognito Chats are set to disappear by default when you end the session. For now, the chats are text-only. WhatsApp says it is working on support for images and voice.

Alongside this, WhatsApp announced “Side Chat with Meta AI.” This lets you message Meta AI about an ongoing chat with other people, for example asking for restaurant ideas based on what friends are discussing, without having to copy and paste messages into another app.

Meta says it will allow third-party reviews of the system and invites outside security researchers to report problems. Some experts also note that any system that runs in the cloud, meaning on a company’s servers instead of on your phone, can still become a high-value target for attackers.

Why it matters

WhatsApp has more than 3 billion users. For many people, this could be their first time using an AI chatbot. If WhatsApp’s privacy claims hold up, it could make it easier to ask sensitive questions without feeling like you are handing a transcript to the company running the AI.

Source: Wired