Meta: Expands End-to-End Encryption in Messenger

Meta’s long-running deployment of end-to-end encryption by default for all of its messaging apps (WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram Direct), despite opposition from some government officials and law enforcement groups.

Messenger team has provided an update on its progress in rolling out default E2E in its app, which it says is on track to be enacted for all one-to-one friends and family chats by the end of the year.

Messenger stated: “As we continue to increase the scale of our tests and prepare to roll out the upgraded service, people will need to update their app to a recent build to access default E2EE. This is why it will take longer than we first anticipated to transition all messages to E2EE. However, as people update their app to the latest version of Messenger, we will be able to upgrade those conversations with the additional privacy and security of E2EE.”

Further, Meta announced its plan to roll out full encryption within its messaging tools back in 2019 and has been working ever since to upgrade its back-end processes to enable a higher level of message security in its apps.

Additionally, Meta delayed the full expansion of encrypted messages back in 2021 due to concerns about the potential for encryption to hide criminal activity in its apps. In September 2022, Priti Patel the UK Home Affairs Secretary asked Meta to reconsider its plans for expanded messaging encryption, as it could impede the ability of police to investigate and prevent child abuse. In addition, Patel labeled the shift to full encryption as ‘catastrophic’. Such concerns, reinforced Meta’s own stats on the detection and removal of child abuse material.

In 2021, Meta detected and reported over 22 million pieces of child abuse imagery to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). A year earlier, in 2020, NCMEC also reported that Facebook was responsible for 94% of the 69 million child sex abuse images reported by U.S. technology companies. If we consider those two incidents, it makes sense that law enforcement groups are concerned about the potential for full encryption, which can’t be broken by Meta or anyone else, to hide this activity. Thus, Meta has continued to move ahead with the plan, which is now nearing the next significant stage.

In addition, Meta expanded its encryption test within Messenger earlier this year, with this new rollout set to see more users prompted about the switchover to E2E.

The expansion of encryption aims to provide more peace of mind for users; however, concerns remain about the potential for encryption to hide certain activities within the world’s most popular messaging apps. However, the alternative would be accepting that other people may be able to read your messages. In this regard, Meta is leaning into majority rule, with most users not engaging in criminal activity within the app.

It is not clear, whether that’s the right move or not is largely a matter of personal perspective. Thus, it seems that Meta will be moving ahead, with added security coming to all your chats as a result.

Source: Social Media Today

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