Last Updated on 22/11/2021 by Sanskriti
Facebook announced end-to-end encryption for audio and video conversations on Messenger on Friday, adding another layer of security to the company’s extensively used messaging tool. End-to-end encryption is currently available on Facebook’s WhatsApp and Messenger services for personal text messages exchanged by users.
The social media behemoth has been progressively adding audio and video capabilities to its chat services. People used these capabilities to keep in touch digitally during the coronavirus epidemic last year, and they’ve grown in popularity since then. In a blog post, the Menlo Park, California-based social media company explained how the encryption protocol ensures that no one else, even Facebook, can see or hear what’s transmitted or said.
“The content of your messages and calls in an end-to-end encrypted conversation is protected from the moment it leaves your device to the moment it reaches the receiver’s device,” the blog read.
Facebook has also stated that it intends to implement end-to-end encryption for one-on-one interactions on Instagram, its popular photo-sharing app.
According to Facebook, the security feature will be tested on Messenger’s group conversations in the next weeks, “We’ll also kick off a limited test with adults in certain countries that lets them opt-in to end-to-end encrypted messages and calls for one-on-one conversations on Instagram.”
Facebook has expanded the number of ways users may regulate Messenger’s vanishing messages function. Users may now specify a timer for the messages to disappear from the receiver’s device, ranging from 5 seconds to 24 hours.