Technology News : WhatsApp has introduced new parental controls for teen accounts. This feature allows parents to control some key settings related to their children’s WhatsApp usage. However, the privacy of their personal chats and calls will remain the same. The new feature allows parents to control who can see their child’s profile photo, who can add them to WhatsApp groups, and how they can use their statuses and channels.
Parents will also have additional control over Meta AI. They can choose the general 13+ setting for teens or use the more limited contact option. Importantly, parents will not be able to view their child’s personal chats and calls. This means, the purpose of this feature is not to monitor every conversation, but to allow them to manage certain important safety and privacy settings.
The new facility was announced on September 30
WhatsApp announced new parental controls for teen accounts on September 30, 2026. According to the company, parents and teens can set these controls together. These facilities are optional, meaning each family can use them according to their needs. Parents can later change these settings or even disable parental controls altogether. The PIN set by the parent is also important for these controls. If a teen tries to change a parent-locked setting, they’ll need to enter their parent’s PIN.
You will get an alert if a child joins a new group
WhatsApp’s new feature also includes group activity alerts. Parents can receive alerts if a teen joins or leaves a new WhatsApp group. Additionally, parents can also receive an activity alert if the number of members in a group the teen is already a member of increases significantly.
Control over status and channels
Parents will also be able to decide whose status updates their teen can see and who can see their child’s own status. Channel controls are also available. This allows parents to restrict certain privacy and content settings as needed without completely shutting down their child’s WhatsApp.
Parental settings will be locked with a PIN
The PIN set by the parent will be used to protect the parental controls. If a teen wants to change a parent-locked setting, they have to enter this PIN. This prevents the teenager from easily circumventing parental restrictions. However, parents can change these settings or turn off parental controls at any time.
Personal chats and calls will not be visible to parents
This WhatsApp feature does not have an option to open individual chats of children and calls to parents. This means that parents will be able to control some account and privacy settings, but their child’s private conversations and calls will not be visible to them.