Privacy

The privacy API allows you to fetch and update account-level privacy settings, such as who can see your last seen, profile photo, about text, and online status. All methods use type-safe enums for categories and values.

Access

Privacy operations are available directly on the Client:

use whatsapp_rust::privacy_settings::{PrivacyCategory, PrivacyValue};

let settings = client.fetch_privacy_settings().await?;
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::Last, PrivacyValue::Contacts).await?;

Methods

fetch_privacy_settings

Fetch all current privacy settings.

pub async fn fetch_privacy_settings(&self) -> Result<PrivacySettingsResponse, IqError>

Returns:

PrivacySettingsResponse - Contains a list of all privacy settings

Example:

use whatsapp_rust::privacy_settings::{PrivacyCategory, PrivacyValue};

let response = client.fetch_privacy_settings().await?;

for setting in &response.settings {
    println!("{:?} = {:?}", setting.category, setting.value);
}

// Look up a specific category
if let Some(value) = response.get_value(&PrivacyCategory::Last) {
    println!("Last seen: {:?}", value);
}

set_privacy_setting

Update a specific privacy setting.

pub async fn set_privacy_setting(
    &self,
    category: PrivacyCategory,
    value: PrivacyValue,
) -> Result<SetPrivacySettingResponse, IqError>

Parameters:

category - A PrivacyCategory enum variant
value - A PrivacyValue enum variant (must be valid for the category)

Returns:

SetPrivacySettingResponse - Contains an optional dhash field (present only for ContactBlacklist operations)

Example:

use whatsapp_rust::privacy_settings::{PrivacyCategory, PrivacyValue};

// Hide last seen from everyone
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::Last, PrivacyValue::None).await?;

// Show profile photo only to contacts
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::Profile, PrivacyValue::Contacts).await?;

// Allow everyone to add you to groups
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::GroupAdd, PrivacyValue::All).await?;

// Disable read receipts
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::ReadReceipts, PrivacyValue::None).await?;

// Restrict calls to known contacts only
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::CallAdd, PrivacyValue::Known).await?;

Each PrivacyCategory only accepts specific PrivacyValue variants. See the valid combinations table below.

set_privacy_disallowed_list

Update a privacy category’s disallowed list (contacts-except-specific-users mode). Only available for categories that support ContactBlacklist: Last, Profile, Status, and GroupAdd.

pub async fn set_privacy_disallowed_list(
    &self,
    category: PrivacyCategory,
    update: DisallowedListUpdate,
) -> Result<SetPrivacySettingResponse, IqError>

Parameters:

category - Must be Last, Profile, Status, or GroupAdd
update - A DisallowedListUpdate containing the dhash and user entries to add/remove

Returns:

SetPrivacySettingResponse - Contains the updated dhash for conflict detection

Example:

use whatsapp_rust::privacy_settings::{
    PrivacyCategory, DisallowedListUpdate, DisallowedListUserEntry, DisallowedListAction,
};

// First, set the category to contact_blacklist mode
client.set_privacy_setting(
    PrivacyCategory::Last,
    PrivacyValue::ContactBlacklist,
).await?;

// Then update the disallowed list
let update = DisallowedListUpdate {
    dhash: "current_hash".to_string(), // from previous response
    users: vec![
        DisallowedListUserEntry {
            action: DisallowedListAction::Add,
            jid: blocked_user_lid,
            pn_jid: Some(blocked_user_pn),
        },
    ],
};

let response = client.set_privacy_disallowed_list(
    PrivacyCategory::Last,
    update,
).await?;

// Save the new dhash for future updates
let new_dhash = response.dhash;

set_default_disappearing_mode

Set the default disappearing messages duration for all new chats.

pub async fn set_default_disappearing_mode(
    &self,
    duration: u32,
) -> Result<(), IqError>

Parameters:

duration - Timer in seconds. Common values: 86400 (24 hours), 604800 (7 days), 7776000 (90 days). Pass 0 to disable.

Example:

// Enable 7-day default disappearing messages
client.set_default_disappearing_mode(604800).await?;

// Disable default disappearing messages
client.set_default_disappearing_mode(0).await?;

This sets the default for new chats only. Existing chats keep their current setting. To change disappearing messages for a specific group, use set_ephemeral.

Types

PrivacyCategory

Controls which privacy setting is being read or written. Each category maps to a wire-protocol string value.

pub enum PrivacyCategory {
    Last,           // "last" — Last seen visibility
    Online,         // "online" — Online status visibility
    Profile,        // "profile" — Profile photo visibility
    Status,         // "status" — Status/story visibility
    GroupAdd,       // "groupadd" — Who can add you to groups
    ReadReceipts,   // "readreceipts" — Read receipt visibility
    CallAdd,        // "calladd" — Who can call you
    Messages,       // "messages" — Who can message you
    DefenseMode,    // "defense" — Defense mode configuration
    Other(String),  // Unknown/future category
}

PrivacyValue

The value assigned to a privacy category.

pub enum PrivacyValue {
    All,              // "all" — Visible to everyone
    Contacts,         // "contacts" — Visible only to contacts
    None,             // "none" — Not visible to anyone
    ContactBlacklist, // "contact_blacklist" — Contacts except specific list
    MatchLastSeen,    // "match_last_seen" — Match the other person's setting
    Known,            // "known" — Known contacts (for calls)
    Off,              // "off" — Feature disabled (defense mode)
    OnStandard,       // "on_standard" — Standard mode (defense mode)
    Other(String),    // Unknown/future value
}

Valid category-value combinations

Not all values are valid for every category. Use PrivacyCategory::is_valid_value() to check at runtime.

Category	Valid values
`Last`	`All`, `Contacts`, `ContactBlacklist`, `None`
`Online`	`All`, `MatchLastSeen`
`Profile`	`All`, `Contacts`, `ContactBlacklist`, `None`
`Status`	`All`, `Contacts`, `ContactBlacklist`, `None`
`GroupAdd`	`All`, `Contacts`, `ContactBlacklist`, `None`
`ReadReceipts`	`All`, `None`
`CallAdd`	`All`, `Known`, `Contacts`
`Messages`	`All`, `Contacts`
`DefenseMode`	`Off`, `OnStandard`

PrivacySetting

pub struct PrivacySetting {
    pub category: PrivacyCategory,
    pub value: PrivacyValue,
}

PrivacySettingsResponse

pub struct PrivacySettingsResponse {
    pub settings: Vec<PrivacySetting>,
}

Methods:

get(&self, category: &PrivacyCategory) -> Option<&PrivacySetting> - Look up a setting by category
get_value(&self, category: &PrivacyCategory) -> Option<&PrivacyValue> - Look up a value directly

SetPrivacySettingResponse

pub struct SetPrivacySettingResponse {
    pub dhash: Option<String>,
}

The dhash field is populated when setting a ContactBlacklist value or updating a disallowed list. Use it for conflict detection on subsequent updates.

DisallowedListUpdate

Used with set_privacy_disallowed_list to add or remove users from a category’s disallowed list.

pub struct DisallowedListUpdate {
    pub dhash: String,
    pub users: Vec<DisallowedListUserEntry>,
}

DisallowedListUserEntry

pub struct DisallowedListUserEntry {
    pub action: DisallowedListAction,
    pub jid: Jid,
    pub pn_jid: Option<Jid>,
}

DisallowedListAction

pub enum DisallowedListAction {
    Add,    // "add" — Add user to disallowed list (default)
    Remove, // "remove" — Remove user from disallowed list
}

Common patterns

Fetch and display all settings

use whatsapp_rust::privacy_settings::{PrivacyCategory, PrivacyValue};

let response = client.fetch_privacy_settings().await?;

let categories = [
    PrivacyCategory::Last,
    PrivacyCategory::Online,
    PrivacyCategory::Profile,
    PrivacyCategory::Status,
    PrivacyCategory::GroupAdd,
    PrivacyCategory::ReadReceipts,
    PrivacyCategory::CallAdd,
    PrivacyCategory::Messages,
    PrivacyCategory::DefenseMode,
];

for category in &categories {
    let value = response
        .get_value(category)
        .unwrap_or(&PrivacyValue::All);
    println!("{:?}: {:?}", category, value);
}

Maximum privacy configuration

use whatsapp_rust::privacy_settings::{PrivacyCategory, PrivacyValue};

client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::Last, PrivacyValue::None).await?;
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::Online, PrivacyValue::MatchLastSeen).await?;
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::Profile, PrivacyValue::Contacts).await?;
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::Status, PrivacyValue::Contacts).await?;
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::GroupAdd, PrivacyValue::Contacts).await?;
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::ReadReceipts, PrivacyValue::None).await?;
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::CallAdd, PrivacyValue::Contacts).await?;
client.set_privacy_setting(PrivacyCategory::Messages, PrivacyValue::Contacts).await?;

Validate before setting

use whatsapp_rust::privacy_settings::{PrivacyCategory, PrivacyValue};

let category = PrivacyCategory::Online;
let value = PrivacyValue::None;

if category.is_valid_value(&value) {
    client.set_privacy_setting(category, value).await?;
} else {
    eprintln!("Invalid value for category");
}

Core

Messaging

Features

Storage & Backends

Core Modules

Access

Methods

fetch_privacy_settings

set_privacy_setting

set_privacy_disallowed_list

set_default_disappearing_mode

Types

PrivacyCategory

PrivacyValue

Valid category-value combinations

PrivacySetting

PrivacySettingsResponse

SetPrivacySettingResponse

DisallowedListUpdate

DisallowedListUserEntry

DisallowedListAction

Common patterns

Fetch and display all settings

Maximum privacy configuration

Validate before setting

See also

​Access

​Methods

​fetch_privacy_settings

​set_privacy_setting

​set_privacy_disallowed_list

​set_default_disappearing_mode

​Types

​PrivacyCategory

​PrivacyValue

​Valid category-value combinations

​PrivacySetting

​PrivacySettingsResponse

​SetPrivacySettingResponse

​DisallowedListUpdate

​DisallowedListUserEntry

​DisallowedListAction

​Common patterns

​Fetch and display all settings

​Maximum privacy configuration

​Validate before setting

​See also

Access

Methods

fetch_privacy_settings

set_privacy_setting

set_privacy_disallowed_list

set_default_disappearing_mode

Types

PrivacyCategory

PrivacyValue

Valid category-value combinations

PrivacySetting

PrivacySettingsResponse

SetPrivacySettingResponse

DisallowedListUpdate

DisallowedListUserEntry

DisallowedListAction

Common patterns

Fetch and display all settings

Maximum privacy configuration

Validate before setting

See also