Rakuten Viber announces the expansion of the Caller ID feature. In addition to identifying a call as potentially safe or unsafe due to spam or fraud, the app will be able to suggest who exactly the unknown number from which the caller is calling belongs to.
The feature works during incoming calls via Rakuten Viber and the mobile network. Currently, the updated feature is available for 10% of users in 97 countries, and by the end of the month, all people in these countries with Rakuten Viber on Android will be able to use it.
How Caller ID works
When was the last time you received a call from an unfamiliar number and ignored it because the caller was not on your contact list? Some calls are time-consuming and risky, such as those from scammers, spammers, and pushy salespeople. There are also calls from unknown callers that you don’t want to miss, such as a call from a courier or store about an order.
With Rakuten Viber’s Caller ID feature, you can find out who is calling you. The username in the prompt is based on the most frequent variant as recorded by other users of the application. After the call ends, the user will be offered other actions: dial the number again, report spam, start a chat, and save the contact.
According to a 2024 Rakuten Viber survey of 70,000 people, 56% do not answer calls from unknown numbers.
“Identifying incoming calls from strangers allows us to give people more control,” says Ofir Eyal, CEO of Rakuten Viber. – “It’s another step we’re taking to help people protect their privacy and save time.
How to enable caller ID
Rakuten Viber users with version 22.7.0 can enable caller identification in the Calls & Messages section of the app’s settings menu (Advanced->Settings->Calls & Messages). Users have control over all the settings of the feature: they can enable and disable the feature on their smartphone and, if necessary, disable caller ID for other users.
Caller ID is currently available for Android users in 97 countries, and the list is constantly expanding.
Security features
Spam protection with the Caller ID feature is the next step in Rakuten Viber’s development of security features. We remind you of other security and privacy features that are already available in Viber:
End-to-end encryption
All personal and group chats and calls on Rakuten Viber are protected by end-to-end encryption by default. This means that no third parties, including the messenger team, have access to the information exchanged between users. Correspondence and decryption keys are available only on the devices of the interlocutors. Thus, calls and messages can be read or listened to only by the participants of the dialog – they cannot be intercepted or eavesdropped.
Two-step authorization
Rakuten Viber users can further secure their account with two-step verification. To do this, you need to set a PIN and link your email. This PIN will be requested when you activate your account on any new device or make changes to your account. In addition, two-step verification will protect you from fraudsters and intruders in case your phone is stolen.
Protect important chats with a PIN code
You can also protect your important conversations with a PIN code in case your phone falls into the wrong hands. So, to open any chat, you will need to enter a password first. Accordingly, no third party, even after unlocking your smartphone and gaining access to your account, will be able to read your correspondence.
Discount messages
Junk messages are deleted automatically at a predetermined time. Such messages cannot be copied or forwarded. In addition, you cannot take a screenshot of a snooze message on Android (and on iOS, the sender will receive a notification when you try to take a screenshot).
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