Google has completed the roll out of end-to-end encryption(E2EE) in group chats for Messages but the feature for now is available only to those who’ve enrolled in the beta program. The company on Twitter wrote that it has completed the roll out of E2EE for users in Open Beta.
Google announced the feature for group chats in December. The roll out of E2EE feature for group chats in Message has been completed in just over a month. The E2EE feature was initially available for only individual messages. The company, announced it for group chats, almost a year after.
Google at I/O 2022 said that E2EE feature would make group chats on Messages more secure. The feature would pretty much work the same way as it does for individual chats.
E2EE is an added layer of security that prevents anyone, including Google, to snoop on your private chats. The message is only between the sender and receiver. The group chats with E2EE will have “This chat is now end-to-end encrypted” banner with a lock icon appearing on the send button.
Google Messages are encrypted meaning they’re private and safe and can only be seen by the sender and the recipient. “End-to-end encryption is a security method that keeps your communications secure. With end-to-end encryption, no one, including Google and third parties, can read eligible messages as they travel between your phone and the phone you message,” says Google.
Explaining how E2EE works, Google on its support page writes that when you use the Messages app to send end-to-end encrypted messages, all chats, including their text and any files or media, are encrypted as the data travels between devices. Encryption converts data into scrambled text which can only be decoded with a secret key. The secret key is a number that’s created on the sender’s and receiver’s devices and exists only on these two devices. This key is generated for each message created making it impossible for anyone including Google to read. This key is deleted from the sender’s device when the encrypted message is created, and deleted from the receiver’s device when the message is decrypted.
