Short answer: It is NOT safe to use WhatsApp to send patient data.
Anecdotal evidence suggests many doctors worldwide are using WhatsApp to share messages, and images with other physicians. In the UK the use of WhatsApp is now ubiquitous in NHS hospitals.
There are five issues:
To remove an individual image, follow these instructions.
If you have lots of offending images in conversations, here is how you can clear conversations.
To prevent WhatsApp from putting received photos in your gallery on iOS.
There are the ridiculously hard instructions provided by WhatsApp.
Given the afore-stated reasons, we strongly suggest that you do not use WhatsApp for sharing patient data. The NHS echoes this advice. "Whatever the other merits of WhatsApp, it should never be used for the sending of information in the professional healthcare environment."
You could, of course, use PicSafe to take clinical photos and share them via WhatsApp. PicSafe bypasses all the issues above and keeps patient data encrypted at all times.