Privacy has become a pertinent issue in the web today thanks to the news of all the hacks and the release of sensitive information. A platform that does not take seriously the issue of privacy runs the risk of losing users and that is why they always assure them of their security in a number of ways.
Secret chats have become a cool feature on messaging apps which allow you to have conversations that are more “private” than the standard ones. Back in July, Messenger was testing Secret Conversations with a limited number of users. Now according to WIRED, it has been rolled out to all users.
This feature is opt-in which means you have to manually toggle the secret conversations feature in order to use it. On Android, you only need to go to your profile tab, scroll and look for “secret conversations” and switch on the feature. However, if you want to use the feature with a specific constant, you have to go to a contact’s thread, tap on the ‘i’ button and select “secret conversation.” This will usher you to a new thread with a black and white theme where the conversation is now encrypted end-to-end.
This does not mean your current standard chats are not secure, they are encrypted in general but the secret conversations are similar to Telegram’s Secret Chat where the conversation is encrypted between the two people so that no one can read them. In addition to the usual features you see on regular chats like adding photos, emojis or location, there is a timer where you can set the conversation to disappear in 5 seconds all the way to 24 hours.
Apparently, Facebook Messenger uses Open Whisper’s Signal encryption system which is the one they also used in encrypting chats on WhatsApp or Google Allo. However, it is good news for privacy advocates as another major platform has managed to add this secure system for people to talk to one another.
