Promise of privacy and security

WhatsApp has made it clear that your photo used to create an avatar will not be used for any other purpose. As soon as the avatar process is completed, the process of deleting the photo from the system is started. While designing the avatar feature, WhatsApp has given maximum emphasis on user privacy, data safety and control. This is the reason why some clear and strict rules have been set with this feature, so that users can use it without any worries.

First of all, the user is given complete control. You can delete your avatar whenever you want. However, once an avatar is deleted, it cannot be recovered. If reincarnation is desired, the entire process will have to be started again. This makes it clear that WhatsApp does not make avatar a permanent or forcibly imposed feature.

The photo will be deleted as soon as the avatar is created.

WhatsApp has also taken transparency regarding creating avatar from photo. The use of your selfie or photo is limited to generating an avatar only. As soon as the avatar is created, WhatsApp starts the process of deleting that photo. That means your image is not stored on any server for long nor is it used for any other purpose.

Another important thing is that there is no option of gender selection given while creating the avatar. Its purpose is to make the avatar more neutral and inclusive, so that users can focus only on their look and expression and not on any specific category.

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Additionally, avatar linked devices or companion phones are not available for security reasons. That is, if you are using WhatsApp Web or any secondary device, then the avatar feature will not work there.