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Lanon Wee

Enhancing Encryption on Messenger to Match WhatsApp's Security

Every Messenger user's personal calls and chats will be encrypted as default, similar to the encryption of WhatsApp. End-to-end encryption, which scrambles conversations so that outsiders can't intercept and access the information, was an optional feature that users could choose to utilize since 2016. In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that the social media firm planned to make encryption technology available to all of its apps, reflecting a notable attempt to ensure privacy that the CEO mentioned was in response to folks who "desire to privately interact in the digital rendition of the living room." to develop responsible AI Meta declared on Wednesday evening that all private calls and messages sent through Messenger will be encrypted by default going forward. This is a major upgrade to the service's privacy in order to make it more similar to its sister app, WhatsApp. Loredana Crisan, the leader of Messenger, wrote in a blog post that due to the encryption technology, "nobody, including Meta, can see what's sent or said, unless you choose to report a message to us." It will take an unspecified amount of time for Meta to fully encrypt all Messenger chats, and the company has based their strategy on a combination of two cryptographic principles, one developed internally and another utilized in the popular encrypted messaging app Signal. Since 2016, Messenger users could choose to have their chats end-to-end encrypted, which would shield their communications from third-parties. However, WhatsApp also features this encryption, and security advocates typically view Signal as a more secure communication platform due to its lower data collection. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "After years of work rebuilding Messenger, we've updated the app with default end-to-end encryption for all personal calls and messages. Huge congrats to the team on making this happen." In 2019, Zuckerberg announced that the social media company was planning to bring encryption technology to all its private messaging apps, in response to the changing user habits of wanting to connect privately, like in a living room. This came following a string of data-privacy scandals, most notably the Cambridge Analytica scandal that severely harmed the company's reputation. Meta has also released several other privacy updates since then, including a 2021 opt-in test that made direct messages on Instagram end-to-end encrypted for some users in certain countries. Then in 2022, a test was conducted so that users could back up Messenger's end-to-end encrypted conversations in case they had to access them on a different device. This week's encryption announcement from Meta adds to the ongoing debate about privacy and law enforcement's ability to investigate cases, such as when the FBI requested Apple to create software to unlock the iPhone of those involved in the San Bernardino shooting in 2016, which Apple refused because it would weaken the encryption protections offered to their users. Similarly, WhatsApp and Signal leaders have stated they would not be available in the U.K. if their encryption was weakened by new legislation. The U.K. government argued that this would make it harder to detect child abuse online.

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