(credit: Facebook)
Facebook began today (Friday, July 8) rolling out a new beta-version feature for Messenger called “Secret Conversations,” allowing for “one-to-one secret conversations … that will be end-to-end encrypted and which can only be read on one device of the person you’re communicating with.”
Facebook suggests the feature will be useful for discussing an illness or sending financial information (as in the pictures above). You can choose to set a timer to control the length of time each message you send remains visible within the conversation. (Rich content like GIFs, videos, and making payments are not supported.)
The technology, described in a technical whitepaper (open access), is based on the Signal Protocol developed by Open Whisper Systems, which is also used in Open Whisper Systems’ own Signal messaging app (Chrome, iOS, Android), WhatsApp, and Google’s Allo (not yet launched).
Unlike WhatsApp and iMessage, which automatically encrypt every message, Secret Conversations only works from a single device and is opt-in, which “will likely rankle many privacy advocates,” says Wired .
But not as much as all of these encrypted services rankle law enforcement agencies, since the feature hampers surveillance capabilities, it adds.