The company announced on Thursday that Meta has begun implementing end-to-end encryption for calls and messages across its Facebook and Messenger platforms, a significant update applauded by privacy advocates amid concerns from law enforcement and child protection groups that this feature will hinder efforts to combat abuse and crime.
Main Information
Meta announced that personal calls and chats on Facebook and Messenger platforms will be fully encrypted from now on.
Loredana Crisan, head of the Messenger platform, stated that encryption means that “no one, including Meta, can see what is being sent or said” unless the user reports a message to the company.
Crisan added that this feature will be available immediately but it will take the company “some time” to update all Messenger chats to encryption as a standard.
Since 2016, Messenger has allowed users to choose to encrypt messages, but Crisam said that default encryption took “years to deliver because we took the time to get this right.”
Crisan explained that the app uses the popular Signal application protocols and Meta’s encryption standards and the necessary features that have been rebuilt from the ground up.
Meta worked with external experts, academics, governments, and advocates to ensure that the privacy update does not harm user safety, according to Crisam.
Critical Quote
“After years of work to rebuild Messenger, we have updated the app with end-to-end encryption by default for all personal calls and messages,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a post on Facebook. “A big congratulations to the team for making this happen.”
Main Background
Zuckerberg announced plans to introduce end-to-end encryption across the entire family of Meta platforms, which includes the photo-sharing platform Instagram and the messaging app WhatsApp, in 2019. He articulated a more privacy-focused vision for the company after it faced a series of high-profile scandals that harmed its reputation, including the data misuse by Cambridge Analytica. The demand for stronger privacy settings has continued in recent years, including after U.S. police used Messenger chat logs while investigating an alleged illegal abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
What to Watch
So far, Instagram has not been covered by the new standard, although the company indicates that this will happen soon. In August, Meta said it plans to implement the new security standard on Instagram “shortly” after it launches on Messenger, although it did not provide a timeline for that.
Opposition
Although privacy advocates have long sought stronger privacy standards on social media platforms like Facebook and Messenger, the suggestions are not widely welcomed. Police and governments have warned that encryption could jeopardize safety and hinder crime-fighting efforts by making it more difficult to track bad actors and obtain evidence of criminal activity. Child safety advocates have warned that stricter encryption could help potential abusers effectively hide online. The tension falls within a broader discussion in technology that pits privacy against security, where tech companies like Apple resist government efforts to introduce backdoors or surveillance powers to bypass security protocols.
Forbes Estimates
$112.6 billion. That is the estimated value of Zuckerberg’s fortune, according to the real-time tracker from Forbes. Zuckerberg’s wealth, primarily stemming from the founding of Facebook, makes him the seventh richest person in the world, behind the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. Facebook was rebranded as Meta Platforms in 2021 as part of the company’s pivot towards the metaverse. Throughout their lives, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have pledged to give away 99% of their stake in Meta.
Reading
Additional
WhatsApp says it will leave the UK rather than weaken encryption under the Online Safety Bill (Verge)
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