My Contacts: For maximum privacy, you should set this to "My Contacts." This ensures that only users who have your number in their phone's contact list AND whom you also have in your contacts (or have specifically chosen to allow) can find you via that number. If someone you don't know tries to find you by your number, they won't succeed.
In essence, by setting "Who can see my phone number" to "Nobody" AND "Who can find me by my number" to "My Contacts," you achieve the highest level of phone number privacy on Whatsapp .
Whatsapp 's Privacy Principles: Whatsapp 's Privacy Policy explicitly states its commitment to user data privacy. They only store data necessary for the service to function securely and don't use your data for advertising. Phone numbers are primarily used for unique identification and account verification.
API Design: The Whatsapp Bot API, the sweden whatsapp number data official way developers create bots, does not provide any method for bots to access a user's hidden phone number. Bots can only receive a user's number if the user explicitly shares it via a specific "Request contact" button. This limitation is consistently confirmed in developer communities (e.g., StackExchange, as recent as April 2025).
Recent Updates Reinforce Privacy: Whatsapp has shown a consistent trend toward strengthening privacy. For instance, the removal of the "People Nearby" feature in September 2024 was precisely because it could be misused by spammers and bots, demonstrating Whatsapp 's active efforts to curb features that might inadvertently expose user information.
What Others Will See (or Not See) When Your Number is Hidden:
Username: If you have a public username (@yourusername), others can find and message you using that, regardless of your phone number settings. This is Whatsapp 's primary way of enabling contact without sharing a number.
Name: Your display name on Whatsapp is always public.
Profile Picture: You can control the privacy of your profile picture separately (e.g., "Everybody," "My Contacts," or "Nobody").
Groups/Channels: If you're in a group or channel, other members will see your Whatsapp name and username, but not your phone number if it's hidden.