After WhatsApp, its Facebook’s turn to add encryption option available to its Messenger Application. The increase of people’s concern about the security of their messages made the social networking platform to include the privacy option.
The latest feature would be available in the messenger app after an update which would be released soon. This option allows users to encrypt their messages in the Facebook Messenger.
Is Facebook Breaching Android App Policies with SMS Integration?
The end-to-end encryption testing had started today with a limited number of testers. The so-called “secret conversations” would make messages visible only to the sender and receiver, and no one else can access them. Even the government agencies and Facebook cannot scoop into those chats. This feature also disables Messenger’s chatbot and other payment services too.
Facebook is thinking of launching this new feature for several months and finally took a decision today. By this step, they clearly make a statement that their user’s privacy is most important than any other things.
As of now, the new Secret conversation option will only be available to messenger applications on iOS and Android.Users using Facebook chat, Messenger.com, or the desktop Messenger can’t access this feature. Facebook Inc may avail this option to all others shortly.
Facebook to Revamp Messenger with New Look and Features
The new mode in Facebook Messenger has the option to secure messages even when the device is stolen or lost. The latest option of setting an expiry date for a message would make it invisible forever. On reaching the expiry date messages would be self-destructed and vanishes permanently.
David Marcus, Vice president of messaging products, Facebook said that “We wanted to make Messenger your primary messaging platform, and while we currently were already using a lot of security to ensure that your messages are safe and confidential, we felt that we needed to go one more extra step with this new mode,”.
“The combination of end-to-end encryption and a message countdown clock will actually empower people to have any conversation they want to on Messenger,” he concluded.
The protocol used by the “Secret Conversations “is created by non-profit Open Whisper Systems. It works on a ‘lock’ system to which only sender/receiver of the conversation or group chat will have the distinct ‘key’ to access.
