Following the experiment, individuals who were on a break found themselves in a better mental state. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP)
Facebook Messenger and Instagram will only get end-to-end encryption by default in 2023, according to Antigone Davis, Meta’s (formerly Facebook) head of safety. The earlier timeline for this was 2022 which the company had announced in a blog post back in April this year. WhatsApp, which is also owned by Meta, already has end-to-end encryption by default.
“We’re taking our time to get this right and we don’t plan to finish the global rollout of end-to-end encryption by default across all our messaging services until sometime in 2023,” Davis wrote in the Sunday Telegraph. She added that the company was determined “to protect people’s private communications and keep people safe online.”
The decision to delay the move is because the company wants to ensure that end-to-end encryption does not hamper efforts to stop criminal activity. She also wrote that Meta will “use a combination of non-encrypted data across our apps, account information and reports from users” to help keep users safe and assist authorities.
“Our recent review of some historic cases showed that we would still have been able to provide critical information to the authorities, even if those services had been end-to-end encrypted,” she wrote in the article.
It should be noted that Facebook Messenger has end-to-end encrypted voice and video calls. There’s also an end-to-end encrypted chat option in Messenger, though it has to be enabled as a ‘Secret Chat’ the individual contact.
Meta and end-to-end encryption
The decision to go with end-to-end encryption across its messaging apps was actually announced back in 2019 when the then Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had talked about his “future is private” vision at the company’s annual F8 Developer Conference.
Zuckerberg had said that the company’s core products such as Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram would become a more private network, rather than the existing digital equivalent of a town square, and “private communications, end-to-end encryption” would be crucial to achieving this vision. Other principles that Zuckerberg had stressed at the time were “reducing permanence, safety, interoperability among all Facebook’s apps, and secure data storage.” But he did not give a timeline for when this end-to-end encryption would roll out at the time.
Earlier in March 2019, Zuckerberg had also written a long letter talking about how “privacy-focused” communications platforms will be important, and that users are more cautious of leaving a permanent record of what they had said.
He had also talked about interoperability stating that in the future, they could let a WhatsApp user message someone on Instagram even without requiring an Instagram account. He also stressed that interoperability would not compromise encryption. “With the ability to message across our services, however, you’d be able to send an encrypted message to someone’s phone number in WhatsApp from Messenger,” he had written at the time.
Then in April this year, the company they were expected to make more progress on default end-to-end encryption for Messenger and Instagram Direct, but that the platforms would not be “fully end-to-end encrypted until sometime in 2022 at the earliest.”
Why is end-to-end encryption an issue?
End-to-end encryption means no one can read or access the messages other than the two participants involved. When this is turned on by default, even Facebook or Meta or Instagram will not be able to read the message. This is great for user privacy but not so much for law enforcement or authorities, especially if the apps are used for any illegal activities. Governments argue this essentially gives criminals a freeway, but Meta says they can continue to keep users safe while keeping their conversations private.
In India, WhatsApp has already filed a case challenging the traceability clause in the new IT rules as unconstitutional. The IT rules require that social media intermediaries trace the originator of a message in some cases as required by authorities. WhatsApp says this goes against the Supreme Court’s judgment in the2017 Justice K S Puttaswamy vs Union Of India case.
“Requiring messaging apps to ‘trace’ chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp, which would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy,” a WhatsApp spokesperson had said at the time.
FAQs
End-to-end encryption helps protect your conversations by ensuring no one sees your messages except you and who you're chatting with. You can turn on secure storage to save your end-to-end encrypted chat history and access your personal messages from other devices.
What happens if I turn off end-to-end encryption? ›
TURNING OFF END-TO-END ENCRYPTION means - Your account can be open in other devices and you can still see old messages and conversations. - And it is also meant that it is not secured. END-TO-END ENCRYPTION is made under Cyber Law to protect everyone's privacy. ...
Why are some of my messages end-to-end encrypted? ›
End-to-end encryption is a security method that keeps your communications secure. With end-to-end encryption, no one, including Google and third parties, can read eligible messages as they travel between your phone and the phone you message.
Can end-to-end encryption be hacked? ›
Vulnerability to Compromised Endpoints: End-to-end encryption relies on the endpoints' security — the devices used by the sender and recipient — to encrypt and decrypt the data. If either endpoint is compromised through malware, hacking, or physical access, it can undermine the effectiveness of end-to-end encryption.
How to recover end-to-end encryption in Messenger? ›
Restore end-to-end encrypted chats with a PIN on Messenger
- Open Messenger.
- Tap Menu, then tap Settings.
- Tap Privacy & safety.
- Tap End-to-end encrypted chats.
- Tap Secure storage.
- Tap Turn on secure storage.
- Enter your PIN to sync your chat history.
The recipient must also agree to use Secret Conversations before they can access messages. You are able to have both a normal Facebook messenger conversation as well as a Secret Conversation with the same person. A padlock icon is displayed next to the person's profile picture to tell you if a conversation is 'Secret'.
Why would someone use end-to-end encryption? ›
End-to-end encryption prevents malicious actors, governments, and even service providers from monitoring or accessing communications. It might seem obvious at first glance, but if a solution can't access its users' data, it can't transmit anything to anyone.
What does end-to-end encryption on Instagram mean? ›
The content of your messages and calls in an end-to-end encrypted chat is protected from the moment it leaves your device to the moment it reaches the receiver's device. This means that nobody during this delivery, including Meta, can see or listen to what's sent or said. How does it work.
Does end-to-end encryption hide messages? ›
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a type of messaging that keeps messages private from everyone, including the messaging service. When E2EE is used, a message only appears in decrypted form for the person sending the message and the person receiving the message.
Why does Messenger say end-to-end encrypted? ›
End-to-end encryption helps protect your privacy by ensuring no one sees your messages except you. Think of it as an extra layer of security that keeps your messages and calls with family and friends protected from the moment they leave your device to the moment they reach the receiver's devices.
A: To turn off end-to-end encryption on Instagram, you need to access the Settings page in the app. Click the Privacy & Security tab and scroll down to the End-to-End Encryption section. Here, you can switch off the End-to-End Encryption toggle. This will disable the encryption for your account.
Why is Messenger asking me to create a PIN for end-to-end encrypted chats? ›
It's part of the new end-to-end encryption that Messenger is rolling out. Using the PIN will allow you to access your chat history if you log in on a new phone or computer. If you've found my post to be helpful, Please like my Comments ✓✓✓.
How to retrieve end-to-end encryption in Messenger? ›
Restore end-to-end encrypted chats with a PIN on Messenger
- Open Messenger.
- Tap Menu, then tap Settings.
- Tap Privacy & safety.
- Tap End-to-end encrypted chats.
- Tap Secure storage.
- Tap Turn on secure storage.
- Enter your PIN to sync your chat history.
The recipient must also agree to use Secret Conversations before they can access messages. You are able to have both a normal Facebook messenger conversation as well as a Secret Conversation with the same person. A padlock icon is displayed next to the person's profile picture to tell you if a conversation is 'Secret'.
What is the battle over end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger? ›
And they want to work with technology companies to find solutions that protect children and privacy. In November, parent company Meta delayed plans to roll out end-to-end encryption to Facebook Messenger and Instagram direct messages until 2023, after pressure from child-safety groups.
Following the experiment, individuals who were on a break found themselves in a better mental state. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP)
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