Facebook Messenger will soon get end-to-end encryption feature with new Secret Conversations mode, the company has confirmed. Using end-to-end encryption means that only the sender and recipient of a message will able to unlock and read it – even Facebook itself won’t be able to see what you’re talking about.
End-to-end encryption means the messages, videos, photos, calls made over the app can’t be read by anyone; not Facebook, not third-parties like the government or cyber-criminals or hackers. End-to-end encryption means device level encryption, and the data is not stored on the company’s servers.
Facebook Messenger feature will not be turned on by default; users will have to choose to start a secret conversation. In addition to providing end-to-end protections, the feature will also allow users to set a time limit for how long each message will remain visible in a conversation. However, secret conversations currently don’t support some popular features, like sharing GIFs or videos.
Only a limited number of Messenger users will be able to try out the feature for now, but Facebook says it plans to make it more widely available later this summer. Facebook Messenger also use the 256-bit encryption to secure these messages, which are sent out by users. When you switch devices during a secret conversation, then the existing messages are not transferred to the new preferred device, and users will have to explicitly resend messages to the new devices, in case of bounced messages.
