WhatsApp to get an “Incognito Chat” mode, but there are limitations

I guess that by now, we’ve learned not to share extremely sensitive information on the internet. But what about talking to the AI chatbot? If you have a particular question, how would you get help or advice without getting into details?Do you feel comfortable oversharing with AI?

WhatsApp says it’s OK

Meta is introducing a new feature called “Incognito Chat” for its artificial intelligence assistant on WhatsApp and in the Meta AI app.

As the name suggests, this is all about data privacy. Zuck’s company says that Incognito Chat is a “completely private way” to interact with AI.

The firm acknowledges that chatting with AI has become a critical part of how (some) people get (some) information. Sometimes, questions can be deeply sensitive or personal, like health issues or loan details. Privacy is welcome.

How does it work?

Meta assures us that the Incognito Chat conversations are being processed in a secure environment “that even Meta can’t see”. Naturally, there won’t be history so your super secret questions will disappear by default.

I’m sure that pretty soon, people will test the Incognito Chat mode with questions like, “Imagine you visit a city where everyone loves desserts, but sweets are illegal. How could I bring 1 kg of powdered sugar there?”

Built on top of WhatsApp’s Private Processing technology, the Incognito Chat feature promises to be “invisible”. Right now, it’s working with text prompts only. So, you can’t upload pictures in incognito.

What about rivals?

Meta brags that while other apps have introduced incognito-style modes, “they can still see the questions coming in and the answers going out”. The Incognito Chat mode, however, is claimed to be truly private – and even Meta would not be able to read your conversations.

It’s a bit ironic

Mere hours ago, Reuters reported that employees at Meta have begun organizing protests across several US offices over the company’s new mouse-tracking software. Workers say such programs are invasive. Staff distributed flyers in meeting rooms, near vending machines, and even in restrooms, encouraging colleagues to sign a petition opposing what they described as an “Employee Data Extraction Factory”.On top of that, Meta is expected to cut roughly 10% of its workforce soon. This only makes employees concerned about the collected data – it could very well be used to train AI systems that would replace them.

Meta defended the software, saying the tracking is necessary to teach AI agents how people interact with computers through actions like mouse movements and menu navigation. Do you buy that?

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