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Facebook has announced that it would roll out optional “end to end encryption” for its Messenger application, following a trend aimed at stronger security and protection against snooping. The US technology giant said this feature would be known as “secret conversations” which can be read only by the sender and recipient.
“Providing more ways for people to safely share is an important part of making the world more open and connected,” the social network’s vice president David Marcus said on his Facebook page. “Whether you’re asking a doctor for medical advice, sending sensitive account information to your spouse, or even your
Social Security number, it’s important to have options available for sharing these kinds of very sensitive messages.”
Facebook earlier this year began implementing this end-to-end encryption on its WhatsApp messaging service, and Google, Apple and others have been making similar moves. Some law enforcement
officials and lawmakers have criticized these moves, saying the strong encryption can allow criminals and other bad actors to operate in secret where traditional wiretaps don’t work.
A Facebook statement said the new feature will be optional “because many people want Messenger to work when you switch between devices, such as a tablet, desktop computer or phone” and that the encrypted messages may only be read on one device.
FB tests translation tool
Facebook began testing a translation tool that will automatically let posts be displayed in languages users prefer. The leading social network first made the “multilingual composer†tool available earlier this year for use on pages representing companies, brands, groups and celebrities through its Pages service.
Now it will be available to general users. “Page authors and other people on Facebook can compose a
single post in multiple languages, and the viewers who speak one of those languages will see the post in their preferred language only — allowing people to more easily interact with their diverse audiences,†the company said.