Hannah Tomes

How to delete your WhatsApps

A guide for ministers

  • From Spectator Life
[Getty]

Whoever it was that said a picture is worth a thousand words clearly hasn’t read the Daily Telegraph’s ‘Lockdown Files’. After journalist Isabel Oakeshott gave the newspaper access to 2.3 million words worth of WhatsApp messages sent by Matt Hancock during the pandemic, the revelations dominated the news agenda for much of yesterday – with more information set to emerge in the coming days. 

The former health secretary gave Oakeshott access to the messages while she ghost-wrote his book about the pandemic. But unluckily for Hancock, if a journalist who disagreed with you on your lockdown policies says she’ll write your Covid memoirs for free, there’s a risk she might not keep all the information you handed over to herself. Who knew!

WhatsApp prides itself on being an encrypted messaging platform, difficult to hack, but that doesn’t account for a user handing over their phone (and its contents) to a third party. So if you’re a minister reading this – and you’re worried about your WhatsApp history – here’s a handy guide to keep you out of trouble. 

1. Turn on disappearing messages

This is probably the simplest way to safeguard against pesky leaks. Disappearing messages can be used in group chats and one-on-one. You just open the chat you want to set them for, click the contact’s name, then select ‘disappearing messages’. Then, you can specify whether you want them to disappear after 24 hours, seven days or 90 days. But be wary: messages sent before this function is enabled won’t be affected. 

2. Delete your messages

Deleting your messages is the simplest solution, but can be time-consuming if you’re in the habit of sending texts you think you’ll later regret. To do this, press and hold the message you want to erase. Once you’ve done this, you can select multiple messages from the chat to delete.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in