Undoubtedly, something that most worries WhatsApp users is privacy , since the fact that it has become the most used means of communication in the world, means that we have many messages between our chats that we would not like that someone else could read . To avoid this, we have seen that we can password block access to WhatsApp or even how to password protect certain WhatsApp chats . However, this implies that we have to enter the password every time we want to access them, we even run the risk that someone will guess it and can read all our messages. Next, we are going to show how to send WhatsApp messages that self-destruct or delete themselves so that no one can see them once they are read.
The truth is that for some time now there has been a rumor about the possibility of sending WhatsApp messages that self-destruct from the messaging app itself, but for now it is something that does not yet allow natively. However, we are going to show a little trick that allows us to send WhatsApp messages that erase themselves once read to prevent anyone from seeing them again.
Send WhatsApp messages that self-destruct or erase once read so no one else can see them
There are some apps that promise to do something similar, but we are going to show a way to do it that does not require us to install anything on our mobile . For this, we are only going to use a website known by the name of Privnote , which, as its name suggests, has been developed to create private notes . Therefore, it not only allows us to send WhatsApp messages that erase themselves, but we can also use it to share these messages through other apps such as mail, etc.
In this way, we will increase the privacy of our messages, since once the recipient has read the message sent by WhatsApp that we have created from Privnote, it can no longer be read even if our phone is in the hands of anyone, not even It may not be read by ourselves.
The first thing we have to do to be able to send WhatsApp messages that delete themselves is to open the Privnote site from the browser of our mobile phone. Once there, we write the message that we want to send by WhatsApp and then we have two options, one to click directly on the Create note button or touch on Show options . In this case, we will be shown the settings that allow us to indicate whether we want the message to be deleted or self-destruct once it is read, after one hour, 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days . It also allows you to encrypt the sent message with a password and even indicate an email so that we receive confirmation that the message has been automatically deleted as soon as we read it or after the established time.
With the message written and everything configured to our liking, all that remains is to click on the Create note button, which will provide us with a link and will be the one that we have to share on WhatsApp with the person we want. Therefore, we copy and paste the link in the WhatsApp chat and we indicate to our contact that we have sent them a private message, since if it is the first time we use the service, they may not know what the link is. Tapping on it will open a browser window and you will be able to read the message, being able to reply through Privnote again.
If we choose the option to self-destruct as soon as we read it, both we and the person who received it, we can verify that when we touch the link again, the message no longer appears . This ensures that even if our mobile phone falls into the hands of third parties, they will be able to read that private message that we have sent or received through WhatsApp using the Privnote online service.
In other messaging apps
If you prefer to use Telegram instead of WhatsApp, you can also have an extra security by creating secret chats or making messages self-destruct.
Secret chats are intended for those who want more security than the average person. All messages in secret chats use end-to-end encryption. This means that only you and your recipient can read those messages; no one else can figure them out, including us on Telegram (more on this here). Messages cannot be forwarded from secret chats. And, when you delete messages on your side of the conversation, the app on the other side of the secret chat will order to delete them as well.
You can order your messages, photos, videos and files to self-destruct in a specified period of time, after they have been read or opened by the recipient. The message will disappear from both devices: yours and your friend’s. All secret chats on Telegram are device specific and are not part of the Telegram cloud. This means that you can only access messages in a secret chat from the source device. They are safe as long as your device is safe in your pocket.
You can also configure the application so that messages are destroyed automatically.
The self-destruct timer is available for all messages in secret chats and for multimedia in private cloud chats. To set a timer, simply tap on the clock icon (within the text box on iOS, in the top bar on Android), and then choose the desired timeout. The clock starts counting down from the moment the message is displayed on the recipient’s screen (when it has two ticks). As soon as the time is up, the message disappears from both devices.
Please note that the secret chat timer is only applied to messages that are sent after setting the timer. It has no effect on previous messages.
