By Meta, the company behind Messenger, has big plans to enhance the security of your conversations. They’re aiming to introduce stronger end-to-end encryption for Messenger by the end of this year.
Starting now, they’re rolling out these enhanced encryption measures for millions of Messenger users as part of their ongoing testing efforts. The goal is to make sure that your one-on-one chats with friends and family are as private and secure as possible.
Meta is dedicated to making end-to-end encryption the default for Messenger in 2023 and will follow suit with Instagram shortly after. This move is driven by their commitment to safeguarding your messages and providing you with a good reason to choose their platforms over competitors’.
Meta has been working on bringing end-to-end encryption to Messenger for some time, but until now, these features have been mostly optional or experimental. They introduced “secret conversations” mode in 2016 and expanded encryption to voice and video calls in 2021. Group chats and calls gained this protection in January 2022, and individual chats have been undergoing testing since August 2022.
However, the testing phase has taken longer than anticipated, mainly because Meta had to upgrade its servers and rebuild numerous product features to accommodate end-to-end encryption. Nevertheless, Meta is steadfast in its commitment to ensuring that your conversations remain private and secure.
Previously, Messenger users had the option to enable encryption for their messages starting in January 2022. Meta began experimenting with making it the default setting in August of the same year and has been refining it ever since.
Meta has also learned from its experience with WhatsApp, another of its messaging platforms that has had end-to-end encryption for years. They’ve figured out how to support multiple devices for a single account without compromising encryption, and they plan to apply these lessons to Messenger.
In response to calls for enhanced privacy, organizations like Amnesty International, Access Now, and Fight for the Future have petitioned Meta and other platforms to enable end-to-end encryption for private chats.
