Facebook Messenger gets end-to-end encryption for video and audio calls

Facebook has started rolling out end-to-end encryption for audio and video calls in its Messenger app. The chat service already offered such encryption for one-on-one text conversations.

Messenger users can now choose to enable end-to-end encryption for audio and video calls, Facebook reports in a blog post. This allows users to protect their ‘personal conversations from hackers and criminals’. Users can still report encrypted messages.

The company does not specifically mention in its blog post what encryption protocols it uses for encrypted video and audio calls. Messenger has had end-to-end encryption for text conversations since 2016. For this, the company uses the Signal Protocol from Open Whisper Systems, which is also suitable for audio and video chats.

Furthermore, Facebook Messenger gets new options for automatically disappearing messages. After the update, users will be given more options to choose the amount of time before new messages delete, from 5 seconds to 24 hours. In the coming weeks, the company would further add “extra features” to encrypted video and audio chats. The company is also expected to test end-to-end encryption for group chats, including audio or video group conversations, in the coming weeks.

Image via Facebook