Alert! WhatsApp status flaw allows stalkers to track users online? Check all details here

WhatsApp status flaw: In a major development, a new report has revealed that Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp  -- one of the most popular and widely used messaging app- has a status flaw that can be misused by stalkers to track other users on the app.

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The report comes from Traced, a mobile security app, that suggests stalkers are using WhatsApp Online Status Tracker websites to stalk users and get access to their personal data. It further stated that these trackers can also find out who is texting whom, without them knowing.

“Cyberstalkers typically like to collect as much information about their target as possible. They want to know where they are at any given moment; who they’re meeting; who they’re talking to; what their texts say; who they’re emailing; what they’re browsing for online. Knowledge is power, and having this level of power over someone is intoxicating, dangerous and profoundly unethical,” according a report from Traced.

As per BGR India,  It is said that WhatsApp status trackers are continuously able to monitor users’ status even when they are not online. Usually, WhatsApp shows status of users as to whether they are “online” or not but these trackers are a step head. These trackers are able to monitor users’ status even when they are not online.

Traced report highlights that CTO Matt Brody used a few of these WhatsApp status trackers and they showed the exact time and date the user was online. Using these apps is extremely simple, all you need to do is, enter the concerned person’s WhatsApp number on the status tracker app or website and it will show when the user came online and for how long.

The report further revealed that one of these tracking apps let users find out if he/she is cheating on them. The app states, “If you suspect a cheating spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, for example [WhatsApp last seen tracker online can help you to confirm whether your suspicions are really true”.

“We provide a setting to allow people to choose who can view the time a user was ‘last seen' within WhatsApp. To help prevent abuse, we regularly work with app stores to seek the removal of apps that attempt to violate our terms of service. We have banned the WhatsApp accounts associated with such websites, requested Google remove such apps from the Play Store, and also take legal action, as appropriate. Automating WhatsApp's features to scrape information is a violation of our terms of service and we will continue to take action to protect the privacy of our users and help prevent abuse,” said a WhatsApp spokesperson.