Kakao said Thursday that the company will add a new visibility setting to its messenger application KakaoTalk to protect the privacy of users.

The new visibility setting is to allow users to control what others see about you across KakaoTalk services. KakaoTalk users in the future will be able to set up several messenger profiles and select who on KakaoTalk can see which profile.

KakaoTalk’s public beta testing of the new feature will begin during the first quarter next year.

Previously, many KakaoTalk users complained that the messenger does not have such privacy settings, raising difficulties in maintaining their privacy at work.

Meanwhile, Kakao plans to add a people-search feature next year, it said. The new function would allow KakaoTalk users to search people with different types of official licenses for consultation. Those people with certifications could resister them on KakaoTalk, using the digital wallet feature that will be introduced next month.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)