After years of guarantees and restricted exams, Meta has began rolling out default end-to-end encryption safety for Messenger. In an announcement, Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that non-public chats and calls will get default end-to-end encryption. Nonetheless, encryption for group chats nonetheless stays an opt-in characteristic.
Finish-to-end encryption is a crucial security layer because it doesn’t permit Meta or different third-party entities to entry the content material of a chat.
“This has taken years to ship as a result of we’ve taken our time to get this proper. Our engineers, cryptographers, designers, coverage consultants, and product managers have labored tirelessly to rebuild Messenger options from the bottom up,” Meta’s Head of Messenger, Loredana Crisan, mentioned in a weblog publish.
Meta first launched the end-to-end encryption characteristic on Messenger in a restricted check in 2016 by way of a “secret conversations” mode. In 2021, the corporate introduced the encryption characteristic for voice and video calls on the app. The social networking large started offering an end-to-end encryption choice for group chats and calls in January 2022. In August 2022, Meta began testing end-to-end encryption for particular person chats. In August 2023, the corporate mentioned it plans to roll out default end-to-end encryption by the tip of the yr.
On its engineering weblog, Meta mentioned that rolling out end-to-end encryption — for which it makes use of the Sign protocol — took such a very long time for roll out as a result of the corporate needed to rebuild sure options such because the sticker library and chat storage from the bottom up.
With this rollout, Messenger will likely be a step nearer to reaching full end-to-end safety like one other Meta-owned chat app WhatsApp. In August, the corporate additionally mentioned that Instagram DMs would get end-to-end encryption safety after the Messegner rollout.
Other than this security replace, Meta can also be launching new options for Messenger together with the power to edit a message as much as quarter-hour after sending; velocity management for voice messages to play these audio clips at 1.5x or 2x; new picture and video layouts; and a brand new interface for disappearing messages. The corporate additionally mentioned that it’s engaged on the power to ship HD photographs and movies on Messenger.
Picture Credit: Meta
