There are many concerns about how younger people use the internet in general, but certainly in relation to social media. There have been pushes around the world to limit – or even ban – access to the likes of Facebook, but WhatsApp is looking at a different approach.
With a messaging app, it can be difficult to keep an eye on who a child is contacting, so Meta has come up with the idea of introducing parental controls. The system is currently under development, and involves linking two accounts together – one belonging to a child, the other to a parent or guardian.
While there will be widespread understanding of the need for such a feature, linking accounts opens up a number of questions and concerns about privacy. WhatsApp has taken an approach that allows for the creation of a secondary account for a younger users, which is automatically feature-limited. While the parental account is linked as able to change some settings, the content of messages is kept private.
WABetaInfo spotted signs of the work in progress in the latest beta version of the Android edition of WhatsApp. The site says:
WhatsApp is exploring the implementation of a feature that allows parents to manage a secondary account, scheduled for release in a future update. This new feature would allow young users to create an account with limited functionalities, such as a profile that prevents them from using certain features. These accounts will be linked to their parent’s account through a dedicated connection. This will establish the relationship between the two profiles while preserving the privacy of messages and calls. This approach is designed to balance privacy with supervision, avoiding intrusive access to personal conversations.
Once the accounts are linked, parents would be able to review several privacy-related options. Younger users often overlook the impact of their privacy settings, especially when interacting with people outside their close circle. Having an adult review these options can significantly reduce unwanted exposure. It also encourages ongoing discussion between parents and children about safe communication habits, as it creates a natural opportunity to explain why certain limits are in place and how different settings affect privacy.
It remains to be seen whether or not younger users feel happy with this level of parental involvement, but most would probably agree that this approach is better than being banned from such a popular messaging platform completely.
Going on to say a little more about how the feature works, WABetaInfo writes:
These accounts will give parents control over who can message or call their child’s account. By default, secondary accounts will limit messaging and calling interactions to contacts only. This default configuration helps reduce the risk of unsolicited contact and potentially harmful communication, as it prevents unknown users from reaching the child directly. At the moment, WhatsApp does not allow users to choose whether they want to receive messages and calls from everyone or from contacts only. Introducing such a capability is especially important for minors, and secondary accounts are designed to address this gap.
In addition to limit interactions, secondary accounts will share certain updates related to account and chat activity with the main account. Although the exact details of this activity report are not yet known, it is important to note that message content will not be included. End-to-end encryption will continue to protect conversations, ensuring that private exchanges remain inaccessible. The report may instead focus on general usage patterns or changes to important settings. Taken together, these tools could help families create a safer digital environment while respecting personal boundaries.
We don’t know how long it will be before parental controls are released to everyone, but given the current political interest in protecting younger internet users, WhatsApp will probably try to get it out as soon as it possibly can.
