Beiruting News

A security problem in WhatsApp means that anyone can see users' profile photos, even if they have been set to be viewable to friends only, according to security researchers.

The problem, which was found by 17-year-old security researcher Indrajeet Bhuyan, seems to be a result of the phone app not being properly synced with the new web interface.

Users are able to set WhatsApp so that it only shares their profile photo with people they have as contacts. But the bug allows people to get around that and see the profile photos of strangers.

The web app also allows users to see photos that have since been deleted. On the phone app, those photos get blurred out - but on the web they seem to remain clearly forever.