Messenger Dives Deeper Into End-to-End Encrypted Conversations

Messenger is testing new ways to incorporate the emphasis on end-to-end encrypted chats from corporate sibling WhatsApp. The Meta-owned messaging application began testing a secure storage option for people who wish to back up their end-to-end encrypted Messenger conversations, which are currently stored on their devices, in the event the device is lost or replaced with a new one. Messenger will not have access to any of those messages unless a user chooses to report one. Secure storage will become the default method for protecting end-to-end encrypted conversation histories, and there will be multiple options to restore them. Users can create a PIN or generate a code, as well as choose to restore conversations via third-party cloud services such as iCloud for iOS devices, which lets people store a secret key that grants them access to their backups. The feature began testing on Android and iOS this week, but it is not yet available for desktop, as chats on desktop are not end-to-end encrypted. Messenger also provided details on several related tests and updates that will begin rolling out over the next few weeks. Deleted messages will soon sync across all of a user’s devices. Messenger will begin testing the ability to unsend messages, reply to Facebook Stories and access end-to-end encrypted messages and calls in more ways, such as via the Calls tab in the app. Hands-free messages in English sent via Meta’s Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses will be end-to-end encrypted. Code Verify, a browser extension Meta released in March for WhatsApp web users to ensure that the code running their WhatsApp Web was not tampered with by hackers, was extended to Messenger for the web, and it works with Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Messenger will begin testing default end-to-end encrypted chats between some people this week, with some of the most frequent chats from users in the test group automatically end-to-end encrypted. Vanish Mode, which let people set their messages to disappear automatically after they have been seen and people leave the chat, is being removed for end-to-end encrypted messages, but will still be available for Instagram. Disappearing messages, which let everyone’s messages disappear at a selected time after they’ve been seen, will remain an option for end-to-end encrypted messages. Finally, a test of opt-in end-to-end encrypted messages and calls on Instagram—which began last year and was expanded to Russia and Ukraine in February—will be further extended to more countries and to more features, such as group chats. Product management director, Messenger trust Sara Su wrote in a blog post, “People want to trust that their online conversations with friends and family are private and secure. We’re working hard to protect your personal messages and calls with end-to-end encryption by default on Messenger and Instagram … We will continue to provide updates as we make progress toward the global rollout of default end-to-end encryption for personal messages and calls in 2023.”

Chat & Messaging

Messenger Dives Deeper Into End-to-End Encrypted Conversations

It is testing a secure storage option for backing up and retrieving those conversations

David Cohen

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David Cohen