WhatsApp Tips: Five smart WhatsApp privacy hacks to keep your chats safe

Limit your online visibility: WhatsApp allows users to control who sees when they are online. This can be done by visiting the Privacy section of the Settings menu in the app. Users can select from contacts who can see or not see when they are online. So, if you want to use the app but want to appear offline to someone, you can categoriese those contacts by visiting the privacy settings.

View Once Messages: You can use WhatsApp's view once features for photos/videos that you want the receiver to see only once. So, if you send a view once message to any contact, it will disappear once the receiver opens it. Once opened, the message disappears and cannot be seen again.

Two-step verification: You can add extra layers of security to your chats by adding PIN numbers. If you set a pin for your chats, no one will be able to read your messages even if they open your phone lock. To set up a PIN for your chats, go to Settings> Account> Two-step verification> Enable and enter a six-digit PIN. Don't forget to add your email address so as to recover/reset the PIN if you forget.

Delete/Restore Messages: Sent a message by mistake or to the wrong person or group? You can always delete it. However, if you have deleted a message by mistake, you will get the undo option for a few seconds to restore that particular message. The feature is available only if you tapped on 'Delete for Everyone'. If the feature is not available in your WhatsApp, you may get it with future updates of the app.

Disappearing messages: These are messages that automatically disappear after a certain time as decided by you. WhatsApp allows you to set a lifeline for sensitive messages that you don't want to hang around. You can set three message disappearing times - after 24 hours, after seven days and after 90 days while sending the message.