Facebook reportedly building an encrypted version of Messenger
Mark Zuckerberg's company would follow in the footsteps of WhatsApp and Google
Getty Images / Josh Edelson
Facebook may be working on an encrypted version of its Messenger app, a report from The Guardian has revealed.
The newspaper, after speaking to sources close to a Facebook project, said an opt-in version of the app would be released in the "coming months".
Instead of rolling-out end-to-end encryption to all of Messengers' 900 million users, it's reported that Mark Zuckerberg's company will require users to turn the feature on. This is because turning on the encryption would stop its artificial intelligence Messenger bots from working.
End-to-end encryption, which is often dubbed 'strong encryption', means messaging platforms and their owners can't read messages sent over their network; the content is only accessible to the sender and receiver.
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Apple's iMessage and FaceTime already use an end-to-end encryption method, as well as secure messaging apps such as Telegram and Signal.
If the move from Facebook was to go ahead then it would amount to one of the highest profile encryption introductions ever seen.
In April, WhatsApp, which was purchased by Facebook in 2014, introduced end-to-end encryption for its one billion users by default. WhatsApp used the Open Whisper Systems method of end-to-end encryption, which is supported by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
In May, Google included an option in its new Allo messenger app that allows users to enable end-to-end encryption - also using the Open Whisper Systems method.
As suggested with the Facebook development, Google's opt-in function is said, by The Guardian, to exist so that the Messenger's artificial intelligence functions aren't limited by the company not receiving user data. Google's video calling app Duo supports the strong encryption method by default.
The reports about an encrypted version of Facebook's Messenger also come in the context of the public dispute between Apple and the FBI over the access to content on the locked iPhone of the San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook.
Until the FBI, with help from an unnamed third party, found a way to unlock the iPhone 5S of Farook, Apple refused to create a new operating system to allow the phone to be accessed.
During the disagreement Apple's claim that creating a "backdoor" for law enforcement agencies to access the iPhone would weaken its encryption methods was supported by major technology companies, including Google, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
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