WHATSAPP is quietly rolling out a new safety layer for photos, videos and documents that operates under the hood, changing what happens to files moving through chats without altering how you chat. The feature, called Strict Account Settings, is being deployed gradually over the coming weeks and can be enabled via Settings > Privacy > Advanced.
WhatsApp has rebuilt its core media-handling library in Rust, replacing about 160,000 lines of older C++ code with roughly 90,000 lines of Rust to curb memory bugs that can enable attacks. It has also bundled Kaleidoscope, an internal system that inspects incoming files for structural oddities, flags higher‑risk formats, and marks known dangerous file types for special handling.
According to Meta, these changes provide a strong, invisible safety net for files received in group chats, and align with earlier advice to turn off automatic media downloads or use Advanced Privacy Mode to limit how far a malicious file can travel on a device.