Meta brings incognito chat mode to WhatsApp, Meta AI app: How it works

Meta is bringing a new Incognito Chat feature to WhatsApp and the Meta AI app, promising temporary AI chats that even the company cannot access

Meta has announced a new feature called Incognito Chat for its AI services on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app. The company says the feature is designed to let users have private conversations with its AI assistant without those chats being visible to Meta or stored permanently. Meta claims messages sent during an Incognito Chat are processed inside a secure environment that even Meta itself cannot access.

 

Meta says Incognito Chat will begin rolling out gradually on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app over the next few months. The company has not yet shared a specific global availability timeline or device compatibility details.

 

The announcement comes at a time when AI chatbots are increasingly being used for personal queries, including health concerns, financial advice, workplace discussions, and other sensitive topics. Meta says Incognito Chat is aimed at giving users a more private space to ask such questions without worrying about conversations being saved or reviewed later. 

How Incognito Chat works 

Meta says starting an Incognito Chat creates a temporary AI conversation that is visible only to the user. The chats are not saved, and messages disappear by default after the session ends.

 

The company also said that unlike some existing incognito or private modes offered by other AI services, Meta’s system is designed so that neither incoming questions nor outgoing responses can be accessed by the company itself. In simpler terms, Meta is positioning the feature as a way for users to interact with AI tools without creating a permanent chat history tied to their account.

 

This feature is built using the same Private Processing technology that powers some of WhatsApp’s privacy-focused systems. 

Meta plans more private AI features for WhatsApp

Alongside the launch of Incognito Chat, Meta also revealed plans for another feature called Sidechat, which will also use Private Processing technology on WhatsApp.

 

According to the company, Sidechat will allow Meta AI to assist users inside ongoing WhatsApp conversations by understanding the context of a chat without interrupting the main conversation thread. The said feature will arrive in the coming months.

What is Meta’s Private Processing technology

Meta describes the Private Processing technology as a security system designed to let certain Meta AI features process messages in a protected cloud environment without allowing Meta or WhatsApp to read or access them. The company says the technology powers features such as message summaries, writing assistance, and the new Incognito Chat mode. Meta claims messages shared through Private Processing are encrypted while being processed and are not stored once the request is completed or the Incognito Chat session ends.

 

Meta says the system is built on top of a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), which creates an isolated and secure space for handling AI requests. The company also noted that only limited data required to process a request is shared with the system. For features that require live information, Meta AI can also search the web using generated search queries that are not linked to a user’s account. As per the company, users can choose to turn off some AI features that rely on Private Processing.