After a long and exhausting wait, Meta is finally in the process of rolling out end-to-end encryption for chats and calls Messenger come default setting.
This introduction, long promised to users, will allow two people to communicate (via message or audio-video) through a secure connectioninaccessible to potential intruders, a bit like what happens with VPN. This type of technology has now become a standard in the sector and some important Messenger competitors have been adopting this solution for a long time.
According to what was stated by Loredana Crisan, vice president of Messenger, this long wait is motivated by the desire to do a great job for its users. As stated by Crisan, in fact, the structure of the app itself has been revised, with in-depth work by engineers, cryptographers, developers ed policy experts.
Apparently, this introduction will not sacrifice Messenger functions particularly appreciated by users, such as themes e reaction personalized. According to Crisan herself, the transition of chats to end-to-end encryption will be gradual and it may take a long time for all of them to be protected by it.
End-to-end encryption and Messenger: what it means for users and Meta
Despite what has been said so far, it should be considered that this type of encryption is not yet available for group chat. Not only that: even messages on Instagram do not benefit from this solution by default, although the situation could change within a few months.
A first announcement of these intentions had been released by Mark Zuckerberg same as, in 2019already talked about temporary and encrypted messages in Meta messaging systems “I believe that the future of communication will increasingly move towards private and encrypted services where people can be confident that what they say to each other will remain safe and their messages and content will not be eternal“, then concluding with “This is the future I hope we will help realize“.
Enabling end-to-end encryption means that Meta (and any law enforcement agencies) will be unable to access private conversations between users. In this regard, there are those online who think that this form of protection of privacy is appreciable and who instead could represent an advantage for others criminals.