To make Facebook Messenger more secure, Facebook is introducing end-to-end encryption. Facebook has expanded the “secret conversation” option, which was introduced in 2016 for text messages, due to a significant increase in interest in voice and video calls.
Over 150 million video calls a day were made through the service over the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic, so the company decided to extend the end-to-end encryption to audio and video calls, which was previously only for text chats. Other Facebook products – such as the WhatsApp messenger – also have end-to-end encryption built-in. It ensures that only the sender and recipient can access content in messages and calls.
End-to-end encryption provides an additional layer of protection for user data. It means that no one (including Facebook) can see, listen to or track users’ messages and conversations. In the coming weeks, end-to-end encryption in group chats, Messenger voice, and video calls will be tested with a limited group of users of the service.
In addition, Facebook has introduced an update to the disappearing messages feature that will allow you to specify more time frames for disappearing messages, ranging from five seconds to 24 hours.
The company is currently beta testing several features. Some users will be able to see an encryption option for group chats. Recall that Facebook decided to develop a technology to analyze encrypted correspondence in the WhatsApp messenger.
The company will also test end-to-end encryption for Instagram messages, with users from select countries taking part in the tests. Last year, European users of Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram faced changes in the operation of services related to compliance with the requirements of EU legislation.