Meta Platforms has announced a new “incognito” mode for WhatsApp users, designed to make conversations with its AI chatbot more private, as concerns continue to grow around how personal data is handled in generative AI systems.
The company revealed in a blog post on Wednesday that the feature allows users to engage in temporary, private chats with Meta AI, its built-in assistant on WhatsApp. According to Meta, these conversations will not be saved by default and will disappear once a user exits the session.
Meta also stated that messages in incognito mode will be processed in a secure environment that even the company itself cannot access.
The move comes amid ongoing criticism of generative AI tools, which rely on large datasets and have raised concerns about the potential exposure of sensitive user information shared during chats.
Meta explained that users often turn to AI assistants with personal topics, including financial, health, work, and relationship-related questions, prompting the need for stronger privacy controls.
The Head of WhatsApp at Meta, Will Cathcart, said people are increasingly asking AI systems meaningful questions about their personal lives and may not always feel comfortable sharing the information behind those questions with the companies operating the AI systems.
Cathcart further explained that the feature includes built-in safeguards. According to him, incognito chats will not support image uploads or image generation, while responses will be limited to text only. He added that the system is designed to block harmful requests and will redirect users to helpful information where possible before refusing to respond or eventually ending the interaction completely.
Users will also be required to confirm their age before using the feature, as Meta does not allow users under 13 on its platforms.
Meta’s move places it alongside competitors such as Google and OpenAI, which already offer privacy controls like disabling chat history or opting out of data use for model training.
