Six easy steps police say you need to do to your WhatsApp settings after changes to terms and conditions
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Durham Constabulary Partnership Officer Susie Blake has issued a warning about changes to the service terms of messaging service WhatsApp.
The statement says the service – which is owned by Facebook – has changed its group settings to include ‘everyone’ by default, ‘which means people that you don’t know can add you to a group without your knowledge’.
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Hide Ad“When I heard about this, I checked my own settings and it showed I was set to ‘everyone’ so I changed it back to keep myself safe,” says the statement.
The warning, circulated by the force’s ‘Keep in the Know’ service, includes advice on how to change your settings:
*Go into WhatsApp
*Go into settings
*Go into account
*Go to privacy
*Go to groups
*Change the setting from ‘everyone’ to ‘my contacts’.
The police warning urges service users – and especially parents – to make sure they keep an eye on their own phone settings and those of their children.
"It is always worthwhile checking your privacy settings regularly on your own devices and if you have kids, check theirs too, or do it together to encourage them to be critical thinkers on-line,” says the statement.
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Hide AdIt lists a number of websites for useful information:“For further advice on settings or parental controls, visit any of the following sites as they are a great source of information: www.getsafeonline.org, www.internetmatters.org and www.net-aware.org.uk.”