WhatsApp users can now set the app to send disappearing messages by default.

Disappearing messages have been around for a while, but this is the first time you can set the feature as the default for all new conversations. You can also set precise limits on how long they stay around before they disappear. Disappearing messages won’t spare you the embarrassment, but they can help ensure that long-forgotten communications stay forgotten.

“Perhaps one of the easiest ways to understand what [this change is] is to think of old spy and Cold War movies – ‘This message will self-destruct in 10 minutes’ or invisible ink,” cyber defense expert and White Tuque founder and CEO Robert D. Stewart told Lifewire via email. “This feature allows the user to have more private, confidential, and freely spoken messages without the fear of it being exposed, used against them, or leaked as part of a cyberattack.”

Disappearing messages are exactly what they sound like. You send them like normal, only instead of them sticking around on the phones of everyone who received them, they delete themselves after a certain amount of time. The original time period was seven days, but now you can choose between 24 hours or 90 days.