Meta begins testing end-to-end encryption for Messenger

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) makes it impossible for even Facebook to read Messenger chat messages when only the participants are allowed access. This makes it harder for external entities like law enforcement or hackers to get a quick look at a user’s private conversations.

In fact, Facebook offered E2EE as an option in Messenger, however the process was not explicitly advertised and most people did not use it. Now, the company is starting to popularize end-to-end encryption for Messenger after testing has begun to help a few people over the course of the past year.

For long-term goals, Meta says all Facebook Messenger chats and calls will include end-to-end encryption from next year.

In addition to E2EE, the company is testing a “secure storage” feature that encrypts cloud backups of users’ Messenger chat history. Meta says this will be useful “in case a user loses their phone or wants to recover their message history on a newly supported device”. Again, the company will not have access to these messages.

Besides, Meta is also testing the ability to synchronize deleted messages across multiple devices and eventually a message cancellation feature.