After WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger to get end-to-end encryption soon

NEW DELHI: After introducing end-to-end encryption to WhatsApp, Facebook is now planning to bring it to Messenger soon. The social media giant announced today that it is testing a new feature Secret Conversations to support end-to-end encryption on demand.

Unlike WhatsApp, in Facebook Messenger end-to-end encryption will not be turned on by default. While chatting on Messenger, if the sender wants to say something sensitive, they can opt for the “Secret Conversation” feature and select a suitable message expiry time which can range between 5 seconds and over 6 hours. The message will be available to the receiver during the selected time frame only. It will automatically get deleted after it is seen by receiver when the time expires.


“Our technology uses the Signal Protocol developed by Open Whisper Systems,” said Facebook in an official post.

End-to-end encryption is mainly meant for texts. Facebook currently is not supporting multimedia content like GIFs or videos or other features.

Explaining the reason for making Secret Conversations as an optional feature, Facebook said, “That’s because many people want Messenger to work when you switch between devices, such as a tablet, desktop computer or phone. Secret conversations can only be read on one device and we recognize that experience may not be right for everyone.”

In April, Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging app introduced end-to-end encryption for all its users by default. This means that only a message's sender and recipient can read messages, stopping them from being intercepted on their journey.