WhatsApp’s latest feature promises complete privacy in chatbot conversations

The messaging platform WhatsApp has introduced a new “incognito” mode for chats with its AI assistant, allowing users to keep conversations private — including from the company itself.

Under the new feature, conversations with the chatbot will not be stored or monitored when incognito mode is enabled, and chat histories will automatically disappear from the user’s device, as stated in the company's press release.

Will Cathcart, who leads the world’s most widely used messaging app, said the company believes users want a secure way to discuss sensitive topics with AI, including health, relationships and finances, without worrying about their conversations being accessible later.

WhatsApp is owned by Meta, the technology company behind platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. For now, the incognito feature applies only to conversations with Meta AI. However, the company said in a recent announcement that it plans to roll out a feature called “Side Chat” in the coming months, enabling users to privately consult Meta AI within group chats without notifying other participants.

The update comes amid growing legal and privacy concerns surrounding AI chat histories, with experts warning that chatbot conversations could potentially be used as evidence in court cases. Competing AI platforms, including ChatGPT and Claude, already offer similar private or temporary chat modes.

However, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the feature as “the first major AI product where there is no log of your conversations stored on servers.”

Cathcart said the technology powering the new privacy mode differs from WhatsApp’s standard end-to-end encryption system used for regular messages, but argued that it offers “the equivalent” level of privacy protection.

Meta AI’s integration into WhatsApp last year drew criticism from some users who were frustrated that the feature could not be disabled, as the BBC recalled. But in May 2025, Zuckerberg said Meta AI had reached one billion users across the company’s apps.

“We've heard from a lot of people that they feel some discomfort about sharing [personal] information with the company, yet they want the answers,” Cathcart said of the latest announcement.

By Nazrin Sadigova