Facebook Messenger Introduces End-to-End Encryption with its New “Secret Conversations” Feature

Just a month back, we broke the news about Facebook’s potential move to implement end-to-end encryption on its popular Messenger platform. Today, Facebook has made official confirmation that it’s not just an idea anymore. They’ve already begun experimenting with this feature!

Dubbed as “Secret Conversations”, this feature is every bit as exciting as the name sounds. It allows you to carry out one-to-one conversations that are encrypted end-to-end. This means that your messages, like precious secrets, will be discernible only on one device of the person you’re communicating with. The messages are exclusively intended for you and the other person – not even Facebook can peek into them. And the cherry on top? You can choose to set a timer to control how long each sent message remains visible within the secret conversation.

While Facebook hasn’t mentioned a specific date, they have hinted that it will be rolled out during this summer. As you’re reading this, the feature is undergoing rigorous testing and is not yet available to the wider public. However, if you’re lucky, you might be part of the test group who gets to use this feature before it’s officially launched.

The growing popularity of Messenger – the app now boasts over 900 million users, a significant leap from 200 million in 2014 – has necessitated privacy features. And this is part of an even bigger plan. In 2014, Facebook onboarded former PayPal executive David Marcus to lead its Messaging products, and there’s been no looking back since then.

Under Marcus’s leadership, Facebook’s Messenger app has been transformed from a basic messaging platform to a multifaceted tool offering a number of services: ordering taxis, voice and video calls, and direct integration with cloud services like Dropbox. Adding to the impressive list is the recently launched group voice call feature. To further boost the use of Messenger, Facebook went so far as to disable direct chat within its main app – a strategic push compelling its billions of users to turn to the standalone Messenger app.

In its last F8 summit, Facebook took another giant stride by introducing Chatbots to Messenger. A boon to businesses and brands, Chatbots will enable more efficient interaction with fans and customers. Facebook has opened this platform to developers too, who can build bots for businesses either on their own or with the help of Facebook’s Bot building partners. The new update also includes a search bar for Bots within Messenger.

Notably, Facebook’s dominance in the instant messaging market was significantly bolstered with its acquisition of WhatsApp back in 2014, for a whopping $19 billion. Together, WhatsApp and Messenger cater to approximately 2 billion users.

With WhatsApp having already implemented end-to-end encryption across all chats in April, it is not surprising to see other services making plans to follow suit. After all, privacy is indeed a kingpin in the contemporary digital communication space.