WhatsApp expands parental control: parents will control who addresses children

The innovation comes after WhatsApp launched the accounts managed by parents in March of this year. These are accounts intended for children who have not yet reached the normal minimum age for independent use of WhatsApp, usually under the age of 13, in accordance with the rules applicable in each country. So far the option has been there gradually, but many users didn’t even know where to find it. Last month, WhatsApp began placing a more prominent shortcut to parental settings on Android, and now the same change is coming to iPhone as well.

The connection procedure requires both devices, the parent’s and the child’s. The parent enters the parental control area, and the system guides him in connecting the accounts using a code or an order between the devices. Once the connection is approved, the child’s account becomes an account managed by the parent, and central settings are protected so that the child cannot change them independently. Some of the settings are also protected by the parent’s personal code.

One of the main abilities concerns the people who can turn to the child. Instead of each phone number being able to send a message directly to the account, inquiries from unknown users can go to a separate area of ​​requests. The parent can see that there is a request, examine who sent it and approve or reject the contact. In this way, the child continues to correspond with approved family members and friends, without automatically opening the account to any unknown number.

Control also extends to groups. The parent can determine under what circumstances the child can join groups and manage the privacy settings of the account. WhatsApp can also send notifications to the parent about certain actions in the account, such as a change in settings or activity related to contacts. For his part, the child sees that the account is linked to the parent’s account, so the supervision mechanism does not work secretly.

Alongside the control options, WhatsApp sets a clear limit: the parent does not get a copy of the child’s messages and does not get access to the content of the conversations or the voice and video calls. Messages continue to be end-to-end encrypted, so only the participants in the conversation can read them. WhatsApp itself also states that it does not have access to the content of the encrypted correspondence.

WhatsApp began offering managed accounts in March after a period of development and testing. The company explained that the idea is to allow young children to use the central messaging service where their family members and friends are already located, without immediately giving them the full capabilities of a regular account. The company is also trying to deal in this way with a reality where young children use the application anyway, sometimes using an age that does not match their real age.

When the child reaches the minimum age suitable for independent use, WhatsApp informs the family of the possibility to switch from an account managed by the parent to a regular account. After the switch, capabilities that were previously blocked are also opened, including channels, status and artificial intelligence services.

The new update on the iPhone is not the launch of a completely new system, but mainly an attempt by WhatsApp to make an already existing tool more accessible and clear. According to reports on the update, the parental control section appears directly on the settings screen and leads the parent step by step through the process. The distribution is carried out gradually, so it is possible that even after updating the application, the option will not yet appear for all users.