Messenger messages will have end-to-end encryption like WhatsApp.
Facebook has announced that it will expand end-to-end encryption by default to allMessenger chats .
The option, now only available manually, is already being tested on “some people.”
Facebook and end-to-end encryption
Currently, Facebook offers Messenger users the option to turn on encryption for chat, but it’s only used by a security-conscious minority.
End-to-end encryption means that Facebook cannot see the content of its users’ messages, only participants can. This makes it much more difficult (but not impossible) for third parties like hackers or law enforcement to attack and tap into those chats.
For example, chats on WhatsApp are encrypted by default using the same protocol offered by Signal, the industry standard secure messenger; Optional encryption for Instagram direct messages is currently being tested; and Messenger only offers it through its “disappearing messages” feature.
security steps
Facebook has been criticized for not making end-to-end encryption the default in Messenger , especially following the rollback of Roe v. Wade in the United States, where fingerprints like app chats will be used as evidence to prosecute newly criminalized abortions.
This was highlighted in a case this week, in which Facebook complied with a police search warrant to turn over the Messenger chat history of a Nebraska teenager and her mother, leading to the pair’s prosecution on related charges. with the state’s pre-existing abortion laws.
Facebook has previously said it has been slow to make this feature the default across all of its chat platforms due to the difficulty of integrating such technology into apps used by billions and the need to balance user privacy with security.
In its update, the company reiterated that it is on track to make end-to-end encryption the default for all chats and calls on Messenger “in 2023.”