Facebook has just announced its commencement of end-to-end encryption testing with secret conversations in the Messenger app. The company is reportedly using the same protocol implemented by Whisper Systems for TextSecure and Signal apps.
To keep the continuity of conversation across multiple devices, Facebook has not encrypted all messages in the app. Instead, the company has carefully introduced a new feature called 'Secret Conversations' which can be optionally enabled for the chosen recipient.
This feature can hide messages and other confidential info from unauthorized users and hackers as the message is only displayed on the intended recipient's smartphone.
Such secret conversations can only be read on the recipient's device and they do not support GIFs and videos, making payments or other common Messenger features. The feature is limited to a few users at the moment, but the company is likely to expand its reach to a wider user-base later this summer.
For further info and technical details, check out the official post on the Facebook Newsroom page.
