The goal is always to keep both the securityas well as the privacy. It is key to avoid errors that could expose us online, especially when using messaging applications or social networks, where we can share more personal data and even affect third parties.
Risks of having any contact
This can also happen on other platforms, but we are going to focus on WhatsApp. You could have contacts you have added by mistake or even old contacts and that number already belongs to someone else. This can pose a problem for your privacy and security, if they take advantage of this circumstance.
They can see certain data
What can happen if you have a contact added that does not correspond? Something basic is that it could access certain data or your profile image. In WhatsApp, you can set it so that only your contacts can access the profile picture, For example. If you added a contact by mistake, they might have access to it.
This can happen if someone talks to you and you mistakenly hit add contact. Also in case that number previously belonged to a person you know and had in your agenda. That number may belong to another user now, but by remaining in your contact list they could access restricted information.
Impersonate another person
Another problem that could appear is that impersonate the identity from another person. Think about a contact you had, someone you knew, and they changed their phone number. You don’t know it, but you still have the number in your phonebook, with its corresponding name. Problems that affect your security could appear here.
For example, you could talk to that person and the new contact interprets that you think you are talking to someone who is not and impersonate the other person. They could collect data from you, ask questions, or take advantage of your trust. This is why it is not a good idea to keep old contacts, who have already changed phone numbers.
You may make a mistake in the future.
It is not only a mistake because of what may happen in the short term, but also in a future. If you leave an added contact, who has told you that they have changed their number, it may mean that in the future you will forget about it and talk to them thinking that it is someone else. As we have explained previously, this could be used against you.
A strange number could also call you, for some scam attempt, and you decide to add it and leave it there, in your phonebook. In the future, you may come across that number and forget that it is a scam. You are going to talk to him and, seeing that he is on your contact list, trust any trick he may pull.
Therefore, as you can see, it is important to be careful with WhatsApp contacts. You need to carefully review who you interact with, what permissions you have been granted, and not fall into the trap of fraudulent numbers. Just as it is important to identify dangerous links, you should also apply this to any contacts you add.
