WhatsApp users need device authentication to access the web version

WhatsApp on Thursday rolled out a new feature for the web version of its messaging service. The feature will require users for their device's facial or fingerprint authentication in addition to scanning the QR code for accessing the platform on the computer. 

"This will limit the chance that a housemate or officemate (when we have those again) can link devices to your WhatsApp account without you. This builds on our existing security measures today, which pop up a notice in your phone whenever a Web/Desktop login occurs, and the ability to unlink devices from your phone at any time," said the Facebook-owned platform in a statement. 

The facial and fingerprint authentication is stored in the device, and by design, WhatsApp cannot access the biometric information stored by the device's operating system, the messaging platform added. 

At present, a user only needs to scan a QR code on the computer from their device to login to the web version of the app. Post this update, users will be asked for an additional step of verifying their face or biometric credentials on their device to ensure no one other than the device owner can login and use WhatsApp Web. 

WhatsApp Web will also undergo a visual redesign as the update rolls out to users over the coming weeks. 

India is WhatsApp's largest market with over 400 million users. 

In its fourth quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Facebook called out WhatsApp business as a big part of its strategy to expand its commerce offerings. 

Under fire for its privacy policy update that impacted the business facing product, WhatsApp said the update will be delayed till May 15.

"So we're building tools to let businesses store and manage their WhatsApp chats using our secure hosting infrastructure if they would like. And we're in the process of updating WhatsApp's privacy policy in terms of service to reflect these optional experiences," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the post earnings call on Wednesday.