WhatsApp has also officially introduced ‘parental control’ in Italy, an optional function with which parents can supervise the ways in which their teenage children – aged 13 to 17 – use the messaging app of the Meta ecosystem. More control, but without invading their privacy.
WhatsApp, parental control also in Italy
In particular, adults will be able to choose which contacts can see their teenage child’s profile picture or add them to groups. Teenagers will not be able to change these settings in any way, except with the approval of the parent via a pre-set Pin code (further down in the article, how to set it).
Furthermore, thanks to the new function, adults will be notified via a notification on their smartphone when their children join a group or leave it, and also when a group they are part of becomes significantly larger; They will also be able to choose how their children can use channels, which status updates they see and who can see theirs.
But privacy will be fully respected, since parents will not be able to spy on the contents of their children’s chats: “All these controls – we read in the official note – have been designed to promote open conversations on how to use WhatsApp between parents and children, all while respecting the privacy of everyone’s personal messages”. Even with controls, therefore, the teenager’s personal messages and calls remain private and protected by end-to-end encryption. Adults will also be able to choose whether to allow minors to use the Meta AI functions, and therefore the possibility of interacting with the artificial intelligence bot integrated into the app.
How to configure parental control on WhatsApp
First, the parent and teenager must agree to link their respective accounts, and both apps must be updated to the latest version. To configure the function, the parent must:
- access the WhatsApp account on your child’s phone and sequentially tap Settings > Parental control > Continue
- Enter your child’s date of birth and confirm their age
- tap Continue to connect to the parent account.
At that point the actual connection to the child’s WhatsApp account begins and it will be necessary:
- frame the QR code displayed on your teenager’s device with your smartphone camera and tap the link to connect to WhatsApp
- verify that you are an adult
- create a 6-digit Parent Pin (required to log in and make changes)
- confirm the parent Pin > Continue.
From this moment on, the parent can access the ‘parental control’ function via the Pin and control or modify the child’s privacy settings, and choose how he or she can use certain functions.