End-To-End Encryption Feature Is Adding To Facebook Messenger
Facebook is reportedly planning to convey end-to-end encryption to its standalone Messenger application. The social giant may begin offering users choice to choose from added privacy or improved artificial intelligence.
End-to-end encryption uses skill to make sure that messages can only be read by the person receiving and sending the message. Such security has become more and more significant in recent months since it means that governments and hackers can’t read charts – but it also means that companies like Facebook can’t either, and it wants to.
“Facebook plans to make the tougher encryption an opt-in because turning it on would get in the way of some new machine learning features it is building into Messenger,” reports The Guardian, claiming that the update will be available in the coming months.
The feature will remain opt-in as Facebook is planning to add chatbots, as declared at the F8 developer conference earlier this year. Bots can be added by developers for many corporate participants, and can be prepared to help users interrelate with services. For instance, a bot could help a news organization deliver content in natural language text in real time.
The move to keep end-to-end encryption optional is illuminating of the present standoff between security agencies and major tech companies. Companies like Facebook, Google, and Apple don’t want to cave into demands to form backdoors into their systems for terror and crime investigators, but they can’t afford to block out business either; without promotions, corporate partnerships are the main revenue stream in applications like Messenger.
We can assume Facebook's move to add end-to-end encryption to meet backlash similar to how Google's Allo chat app received the response from people. Soon after Allo release, security experts together with Edward Snowden realised that the end-to-end encryption was not turned on by default. To recall, Google's new Allo chat app has an Incognito mode which has discreet notifications and end-to-end encryption.
Like Google, Facebook will apparently add both an encrypted mode that attempts to keep messages safe but means that they can be read by the companies and an end-to-end one, that can be swapped on and gives extra confidentiality but gets rid of some features.