Meta unveils Incognito Chat for private AI conversations
New privacy-focused AI chats on WhatsApp are processed in a secure environment that Meta says even the company itself cannot access.
Meta has introduced Incognito Chat with Meta AI on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app, adding a privacy-focused option for users interacting with AI.
The company said the feature is intended for sensitive or personal questions, such as health issues, loan details or career advice. Incognito Chat is built on WhatsApp’s Private Processing technology and is designed to process conversations in a secure environment that Meta says it cannot access.
Messages in Incognito Chat are not saved and disappear by default. Meta says the feature creates temporary AI conversations that are visible only to the user, reducing concerns about long-term retention and access to sensitive prompts.
Meta also contrasted the feature with other incognito-style AI tools, saying those services may still be able to see user prompts and generated responses. The company claims its approach prevents anyone, including Meta, from reading the content exchanged during these conversations.
The company said Incognito Chat will roll out on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app over the coming months. It also plans to introduce Side Chat on WhatsApp, which will provide AI assistance linked to ongoing conversations while using the same Private Processing infrastructure.
Why does it matter?
As AI assistants become embedded in messaging, work, finance and health-related conversations, users are likely to share increasingly sensitive information with chatbots. Meta’s Incognito Chat points to growing competition in privacy-preserving AI, where companies are trying to show that AI interactions can be useful without exposing prompts, responses, or personal context to long-term storage or platform access.
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