Image: Meta.
The Messenger app can seem like a fun and safe space. However, the threat of someone breaking into your messages and reading all your private thoughts can be nerve-wracking. That’s why Facebook announced on Monday that it will expand end-to-end encryption on Messenger globally.
The rollout of end-to-end content encryption on Messenger will be phased in over the coming months, according to Meta, Facebook’s parent company. People will be notified in the individual chat thread when the chat is upgraded and encrypted. This random selection may mean that some of your Messenger chats will be encrypted while others will not.
Facebook says it worked with engineers, cryptologists and designers to bring end-to-end encryption to Messenger and make chats private, safe and secure. End-to-end encryption is still in the testing phase, and this deployment will be part of that testing.
New features for the encrypted version
“Establishing a secure and resilient end-to-end encryption service for the billions of messages that are sent over Messenger every day requires careful testing,” says Meta.
Starting Monday, these end-to-end encrypted chats will come with new features that were previously reserved for regular Messenger chats. Encrypted chats will now have custom chat topics, emojis and chat reactions, group profile pictures, link previews, and active status.
Android users get an added bonus: chat bubbles. Bubbles on Android is a feature that shows you a circle with your friend’s photo, also known as a bubble, while using other apps that you can use to read and reply to messages.
Source: ZDNet.com