- Facebook had first started rolling out encryption to its Messenger service back in 2016. But it only works when users use the Secret Conversation feature on the service.
- The users want to know how their data is being used and what data is accessible by Facebook.
- Experts have asked Facebook to continue its efforts and do more to combat scams and protect people’s information.
Messaging Apps With End-to-End Encryption Have Soared in Popularity
Messaging services with end-to-end encryption have surged in popularity in recent times. WhatsApp, iMessage, and Signal are among the major messaging platforms with end-to-end encryption support. While Telegram has also emerged as a popular Messenger alternative, its chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default. Like Messenger, it requires one to use the Secret chat mode for this
Facebook is also expected to unify the infrastructure behind the three messaging platforms—Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram Direct—eventually. This will allow users to message each other across platforms. But many users have raised questions about privacy with such an implementation.
The social media giant has taken criticism over the years for being slow to implement end-to-end encryption by default on all of its platforms. The company also owns WhatsApp, which is the world’s largest messaging platform. And it offers encryption by default to its billion-plus users.
Instagram, Facebook Messenger won’t have default encryption till 2022
Facebook, on Monday, mentioned that messages on Messenger and Instagram Direct are not going to be end-to-end encrypted by default till “someday in 2022″. “We were expected to make more progress on default end-to-end encryption for Messenger and Instagram Direct this year. But, it’s a long-term project and we won’t be fully end-to-end encrypted until sometime in 2022 at the earliest. Moreover, the safety features we’ve already introduced are designed to work with end-to-end encryption. And, we plan to continue building strong safety features into our services,” the corporate mentioned in a weblog put up.
Facebook had first begun rolling out encryption to its Messenger service again in 2016, but it surely solely works when customers use the Secret Conversation characteristic on the service. The implementation is just like a rival messaging app, Telegram, which additionally presents encrypted conversations by means of a “Secret Chats” feature. Instagram, on the other hand, has no encryption for texts sent through its direct messaging feature.
Facebook had revamped Instagram’s direct messaging feature, unifying it with Messenger, last year. The company offers a “Vanish Mode” for messaging on Instagram, which deletes texts dispatched to one another after a hard and fast time interval. The social media big has taken criticism through the years for being gradual to implement end-to-end encryption by default on all of its platforms. The firm additionally owns WhatsApp, which is the world’s largest messaging platform, and presents encryption by default to its billion-plus customers.