Silicon Valley tech giant, Facebook announced on Friday that it has finally officially begun rolling out the end-to-end encryption of the Facebook Messenger app with updated controls for disappearing messages.
Encryption is a type of protection that ensures that the message can be seen only by the sender and the recipient. Security encryption for voice and video calls.
The move comes as the sanctity of data on Smartphones is becoming increasingly critical.
Encrypting text conversations in Messenger has been an option since 2016. However, this encryption is not installed automatically like WhatsApp.
The number of audio or video calls made on Messenger increased to more than 150 million daily, prompting Facebook to add the option to encrypt the switch from one side to the other to prevent detection.
“The content of your messages and calls in encrypted end-to-end conversations is secure from where it leaves your device until it reaches the recipient’s device,” Messenger’s product management director Ruth Kricheli writes in a blog post.
“This means that no one else, including Facebook, can see or listen to the post or comment.”
Another interesting feature of this update is that you can now choose where you want the messages you send to expire.
Facebook reveals that from time to time people do not want their messages to be kept in conversations, so, now the app gives you the option to delete the message within five seconds to 24 hours to automatically disappear.
According to Facebook, the security aspect will be tested in Messenger’s group discussions in the coming weeks, “We will also launch a limited trial with adults in certain countries that allow them to opt-in and end their instant messaging and calls on Instagram conversations. ”
End-encryption is already widely used by apps including Facebook managed by Facebook and becomes a standard industry standard.
Apple’s recent announcement that it would scan encrypted messages to find evidence of child sexual abuse has sparked controversy over online encryption and privacy, raising fears that the same technology could be used for government scrutiny.
The move represents Apple’s radical change, until recently it resisted attempts to weaken its encryption that prevents third parties from seeing private messages.
Apple’s move comes after years of struggle involving technology firms and law enforcement.
Legal authorities have warned that the so-called “end-to-end encryption,” where only the user and recipient can read the messages, can protect criminals, terrorists and pornographers even if the authorities have legal documents to investigate.
