
Share this content on



internet matters logo
internet matters logo
MENU
Please enter your keyword
  • About us
    • Our Team
    • Expert Advisory Panel
    • Our partners
    • Become a partner
    • Contact us
    • Careers
  • Inclusive Digital Safety
    • Advice for parents and carers
    • Advice for professionals
    • Research
    • Resources
    • Connecting Safely Online
    • Fostering Digital Skills
    • UKCIS Vulnerable Users Working Group
  • Online Issues
    • Sexting
    • Online grooming
    • Fake news and misinformation
    • Screen time
    • Inappropriate content
    • Cyberbullying
    • Online reputation
    • Online Pornography
    • Self-harm
    • Radicalisation
    • Privacy and identity theft
    • Report issue
  • Advice by Age
    • Pre-school (0-5)
    • Young Children (6-10)
    • Pre-teen (11-13)
    • Teens ( 14+)
  • Setting Controls
    • Social media privacy guides
    • Gaming platforms and devices
    • Smartphones and other devices
    • Broadband & mobile networks
    • Entertainment & search engines
    • Get kids tech set up safe
  • Guides & Resources
    • My Family’s Digital Toolkit
    • Online gaming advice hub
    • Social media advice hub
    • Press Start for PlayStation Safety
    • Guide to apps
    • Digital resilience toolkit
    • Online money management guide
    • The dangers of digital piracy
    • Guide to buying tech
    • UKCIS Digital Passport
    • Set up safe device checklist
    • Online safety leaflets & resources
  • News & Opinion
    • Articles
    • Research
    • Parent Stories
    • Expert opinion
    • Press releases
    • Our expert panel
  • Schools resources
    • Digital Matters online learning platform
    • Back to school guides
    • Early years
    • Primary school
    • Secondary school
    • Connect school to home
    • Professional guidance
You are here:
  • Home
  • Resources
  • WhatsApp safety: a how to guide for parents

WhatsApp social media guide

With over 1.5 billion users, WhatsApp is one of the most used messaging apps. Find out what features you can use to help keep your child’s personal information private.

Download guide Share

whatsapp logo

1232 likes

WhatsApp safety: a how to guide for parents

The how-to guide looks at the popular global instant messaging app, WhatsApp Messenger.

The application, available to download from the App and Play stores, averages over 2 billion monthly users. The minimum age requirement to use the service is 16 years.

How does WhatsApp work?

WhatsApp allows your child (aged 16+) to send instant messages to contacts they have added to their WhatsApp account.

Only people who have a WhatsApp account can send and receive messages through the app. Messages can be sent one-to-one or within a group conversation.

By default, WhatsApp identifies whether a message was delivered, read, seen or played. These are called Read Receipts. However, users can disable Read Receipts in WhatsApp settings.

What information can be shared?

Last Seen

This is a timestamp that shows users the last time your child used their WhatsApp account. Users can customise who can see this in settings.

Status Message

This can be customised to show what the person wants to share with their contacts.

Online

This tells your contacts if you are online. Users can customise who can see this in settings.

Remember: By default, WhatsApp automatically sets privacy settings to public. If you don’t share your last seen information, you won’t be able to see other people’s last seen information. This applies to Read Receipts and other features as well.

Information shared on WhatsApp

There are four settings to manage what information is shared:

Everyone

This option will show your information to all users.

My contacts

Only your contacts can see information about you.

My contacts except…

Users can choose to hide their information from individual contacts.

Nobody

No content will be shown to any user. Your child can change this setting to “My contacts” so that only their contacts are able to see this information. However, you should monitor who they add.

Manage content

To make sure your child only receives messages from people they trust they can block, delete or report users.

Delete or block users

Blocked users will not be able to contact you. Any updates to your status, profile image and last seen timestamps will not be shown. If you have blocked someone, they will not be notified but may still be able to work it out as your status message will no longer be displayed.

Please note that blocking will not remove the contact from the WhatsApp list nor will it remove you from the list on this contact’s phone. To delete a contact in WhatsApp you must delete the contact from your phone’s address book.

Reporting Spam

If you receive a message from an unknown contact you can Report spam and Block. This will report the user and add the user your Blocked list.

Setting privacy settings

See our WhatsApp step-by-step guide to set privacy safety settings on the social media network. These help keep children safe online while they chat with their friends.

Other customisable features include:

  • turn off location-sharing
  • managing disappearing messages
  • customise groups
  • enabling fingerprint lock
  • setting up two-step verification

Was this useful?
Yes No
Tell us why

More to explore

See related advice and practical tips to support children online:

  • Advice for 11-13 years
  • Advice for 14+ year olds
  • App safety
  • Social media safety

On site links

  • WhatsApp privacy guide
  • What age can my child start social networking?
  • Social media scams advice guide to support young people

Related Web Links

Navigating social media safety tips

WhatsApp Safety Tips

  • Online issues
  • Cyberbullying
  • Inappropriate content
  • Sexting
  • Self-harm
  • Screen time
  • Radicalisation
  • Online grooming
  • Online pornography
  • Online reputation
  • Privacy and identity theft
  • Advice by age
  • Pre-school (0-5)
  • Young children (6-10)
  • Pre-teen (11-13)
  • Teens ( 14+)
  • Setting controls
  • Smartphones and other devices
  • Broadband & mobile networks
  • Gaming platform & other devices
  • Social media privacy guides
  • Entertainment & search engines
  • Connecting Safely Online
  • Resources
  • My Family’s Digital Toolkit
  • Online gaming advice hub
  • The dangers of digital piracy
  • Digital resilience toolkit
  • Social media advice hub
  • Guide to apps
  • Accessibility on Internet Matters
  • Digital Matters
  • Schools resources
  • Early years resources
  • Primary school resources
  • Secondary school resources
  • Parent pack for teachers
  • News & opinion
  • Our expert panel
  • #StaySafeStayHome support for families
Follow us

Want to read in other language?
en English
zh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchde Germanhi Hindiit Italianpl Polishpt Portugueseru Russianes Spanishcy Welsh
Need to address an issue fast?
Report issue
Subscribe to our newsletter
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Privacy Policy
gray logo
Copyright 2023 internetmatters.org™ All rights reserved.
Scroll Up

Download Workbook

  • To receive personalised online safety guidance in the future, we’d like to ask for your name and email. Simply fill your details below. You can choose to skip, if you prefer.
  • Skip and download