Messenger
Whatsapp deactivates every account on request – no matter who asks for it
This little trick could not only get on the last nerve of the Whatsapp makers. Any access can be deactivated with just a simple email – this should only be used for lost or stolen devices.
The idea is as simple as it is ingenious: If you lose your smartphone or it has been stolen, you can deactivate access to the Whatsapp account installed on it with just a single movement. On the official Whatsapp’s help page describes the process as follows: “Send us an email with the text ‘Lost/Stolen: Please deactivate my account’ and your phone number in full international format as the email body.” The developers also give the necessary address and the corresponding format of the phone number there.
The problem: You never have to prove that you have the appropriate authorization to deactivate the account. star tested it and was able to temporarily paralyze a Whatsapp account within a very short time. Around 1 p.m. Whatsapp received the request – informal, in one line. An email from Whatsapp with instructions on what to do in the event of a stolen or lost smartphone followed immediately.
Whatsapp account deactivated within half a day
Much later, around 9:30 p.m., a second email followed from Whatsapp. This time it said: “We have deactivated your WhatsApp account. This means that it is currently not active and will be automatically deleted in 30 days unless you register it again. Please note: WhatsApp Customer Support cannot manually access your account erase for you.”
After all, after deactivation, the phone number was available to others as normal and Whatsapp collected all messages sent to this address. It is officially stated that this is the case for up to 30 days. Within this time it is possible to reactivate the deactivated account in just a few simple steps. To do this, simply open the app and wait for the message that the phone number is no longer registered with Whatsapp. Now don’t panic. Simply click on “Verify”, wait for the SMS with the six-digit code, type it in and you can continue. Nothing was lost in the test and all data was where it belongs.
More storage, more security
15 helpful tips for Whatsapp that will make your messenger safer and better
No notification on the smartphone
But: While the sender of the e-mail with the request for deletion received a message at the time of deactivation, Whatsapp did not report on the affected smartphone. So if you don’t open the app routinely, you won’t find out that the account has been deactivated. This can result in messages not being lost, but only being received much later (perhaps too late).
You shouldn’t wait too long anyway, because you can only save your chats and data if you reactivate your account within 30 days. If you miss this deadline, your access will be completely deleted. This does not exclude a later re-registration, but all chats and groups will be irretrievably lost.
In the social networks, those affected and testers are already looking for ways in which Whatsapp could prevent this chaos, which is only likely to worsen if this method becomes known. A comprehensible solution: e-mails requesting the deactivation of a number should only be processed if they come from a previously specified address. Another idea is a PIN for access, which must be submitted along with a request to deactivate a phone number.
So far, Whatsapp hasn’t changed anything about the account deactivation process – but with the foreseeable increase in the number of e-mails, this is likely to change quickly.