Meta Platforms is upgrading the Messenger to be end-to-end encrypted by default, ending a multiyear journey to make the messaging app secure for its users.
Meta announced the completion of the project, noting that the upgrade would bring E2EE to all users without them having to select the option, which has been available since 2016. The original feature set was included as an option called Secret Conversations, and now it’s implemented directly into chats as a foundational service.
This represents the most significant move for the project for bringing security to the company’s platforms since 2019, when Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg outlined his vision for privacy-focused messaging in a blog post. “People’s private communications should be secure,” he wrote. “End-to-end encryption prevents anyone — including us — from seeing what people share on our services.”
Meta looked to existing end-to-end encryption protocols, including Signal Protocol, which underpins the encrypted messaging app Signal. Meta designed its own new encrypted storage system called Labyrinth. With the Labyrinth Protocol, encrypted texts are uploaded to Meta’s servers on-demand by clients with keys that are rotated when clients are removed, ensuring that messages always remain secure and private.
Meta enables users to edit their messages up to 15 minutes after they have been sent. This means that users have a short window of time in case they send their message too soon or if they simply have something to change. However, previous versions of the edited message will be visible to Meta if reported for abuse.
A new “read receipts” control now allows users to decide if senders will know if the message was viewed or not. Meta also announced upgrades to its photo and video messaging features on Messenger, including easier access, upgraded video quality, and more controls for reacting to media.
Improvements to high-definition media and file sharing are also in the works. Voice messaging improvements have also been implemented that allow users to play audio at 1.5- or two-times speed and to allow users to pick up listening where they left off.
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