WhatsApp lance les pseudonymes et enterre le partage obligatoire du numéro
The instant messaging service WhatsApp, owned by tech giant Meta, is about to take a historic turn. The company announced on Monday, June 29, 2026, the upcoming introduction of usernames (pseudonyms), finally allowing its subscribers to communicate without having to systematically share their phone number.
This major development marks a break with the traditional functioning of the platform.
Specifically, phone numbers will no longer be automatically disclosed when a member is added to group chats, nor when sending a first message to a third party or a company, WhatsApp said in an official statement.
According to the messaging service's management, this rollout represents a top-tier "privacy feature," modeled on a system already proven successful by competing applications like Telegram and Signal. To contact a new person, it will now be necessary to know and enter their unique username.
However, due to the sheer size of its community—WhatsApp boasts over 3 billion active users worldwide—the competition for usernames is expected to be particularly fierce. Many users risk having their first choice of name already taken.
To orchestrate this transition, the company indicated that it would begin the username reservation process gradually starting this Monday. Notifications of access to this option will be sent progressively to users in each affected country. However, no precise universal timeline has been announced yet.
A specific measure has also been planned for the economic ecosystem: "creators, small businesses and organizations" will be able to request certification from WhatsApp in order to harmonize their identifier with the username under which they are already registered on the group's other flagship platforms, namely Facebook and Instagram.
AFP
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