What to Do If Your Security Code Changes on WhatsApp
The message "Your security code has changed" is currently unsettling many WhatsApp users! If you have also received or seen this message, NextPit tells you what it means and how you can deactivate such annoying notifications.
TL;DR:
- Many WhatsApp users see the message "Your security code has changed" in November.
- This is a number that is required for secure encryption of chats.
- If you receive the message, you don't have to do anything else, but good news! You can deactivate the annoying message.
Even though WhatsApp has been criticized often in terms of data protection, the instant messenger has been encrypting your chats for a few years now. The recently renamed "Meta" Facebook works with 60-digit security numbers, which are intended to secure messages from the prying eyes of third parties. In November, many NextPit readers in Germany received the message "Your security number has changed".
In one of our forums on the morning of November 5, there were a number of people who posted in a thread concerning this very issue. It wasn't only there but on Twitter as well where I came across some really concerned WhatsApp users. Hence, my curiosity was piqued and I decided to be adventurous by performing a little bit more research on the matter.
"Your security code has changed": What the message means and how do I avoid it in the future?
WhatsApp updates security codes regularly and normally, you don't even notice it. As WhatsApp wrote on its Security and Privacy page, this happens when one of your contacts reinstalls the instant messenger or changes his/her mobile number. The code is automatically transferred, but you can also wish to be notified of this matter. This can be performed via a setting in WhatsApp.
- Open WhatsApp Settings.
- Tap Account > Security.
- From here, you can enable security notifications by tapping Show Security Notifications.
Maybe this has been set to "On" and that's the reason why you kept on seeing such messages. However, WhatsApp may have also changed some of the users' security codes in November, and that's the reason why you received this message. While I have asked WhatsApp about the exact reason behind this, I have yet to receive a reply.
Basically, the fact that your (or somebody else's) security code has changed is no cause for alarm!
