Facebook Messenger fans urged to change setting NOW to protect themselves from snoopers

MESSENGER on Thursday began rolling out encrypted group chats and calls in Messenger to everyone.

The controversial move means that users across the globe can now choose to scramble their communications to shield them from prying eyes.

GettyFacebook has encrypted voice and video calls on Messenger[/caption]

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, said the rollout ratchets up privacy for Messenger’s 1.3billion users.

“With cybercrime and hacking on the rise, it’s more important than ever to find great ways to connect with friends and family through private and secure communications.”

It comes as the sanctity of data on smartphones becomes an increasingly sensitive topic.

Encrypting text chats on Messenger has been an option since 2016 – but it hasn’t been available on voice or video calls.

The number of such calls made on Messenger has surged since then to more than 150million daily.

The rise has prompted Facebook to add the option of scrambling exchanges from one end to the other to prevent snooping.

How to encryppt Messenger chats and calls

There are two ways that Messenger users can opt in to secure chats.

One is by communicating in “vanish mode”, which launched in 2020 and lets you send messages that disappear automatically.

To enter vanish mode, swipe up on an existing chat to enter a new one where anything that’s sent disappears when you close the window.

The second method is through Secret Conversations, which launched in 2016.

You can toggle that on by toggling the lock icon in the top right of your display when you start a new individual or group chat.

What is end-to-end encryption?

End-to-end encryption is already widely used by apps including Facebook-owned WhatsApp and is becoming an industry standard.

Messenger began testing the added layer of security last summer and on Thursday began rolling it out to all users.

“The content of your messages and calls in an end-to-end encrypted conversation is protected from the moment it leaves your device to the moment it reaches the receiver’s device,” Messenger director of product management Ruth Kricheli said in a blog post last year.

“This means that nobody else, including Facebook, can see or listen to what’s sent or said.”

Facebook has said that it is also testing encrypted messages on Instagram.

It plans to make end-to-end encryption the default on Instagram and Messenger, though this is unlikely to happen until next year.

Encrypted messaging is already the default on Meta-owned WhatsApp as well as chat apps Signal and Telegram.

Data privacy concerns

Apple’s recent announcement that it would check iCloud photos for evidence of child sexual abuse has revived debate on online privacy.

Some have raised concerns that the same technology could be used for government surveillance – which Apple denies.

Apple argued in a technical paper that the technology developed by cryptographic experts “is secure, and is expressly designed to preserve user privacy.”.

Nonetheless, encryption and privacy specialists warned the tool could be exploited for other purposes, potentially opening a door to mass surveillance.

The Apple move comes following years of standoffs involving technology firms and law enforcement.

FBI officials have warned that so-called “end to end encryption,” where only the user and recipient can read messages, can protect criminals, terrorists and distributors of child sexual abuse material.

This is the case even when authorities have a legal warrant for an investigation.

According to a recent report published by the NSPCC, end to end encryption risks prioritising adult privacy over child safety.

GettyThe move ratchets up privacy for Messenger users but has drawn criticism from police who claim that concealing chats protects criminals[/caption]

In other news, nine apps have had to be removed from the Google Play Store after they were caught stealing Facebook passwords.

Facebook is facing backlash in the US over plans to create a version of Instagram for children under 13.

And, influencers who don’t clearly state if they’ve edited photos which are advertisements could be fined or imprisoned in Norway due to a new law.

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