It was reported by The New York Times on Friday that Facebook has rolled out a beta version of a new feature they’re calling “secret conversations.” It is basically end-to-end encrypted messages that, in theory, do not allow anyone – not even Facebook – to intercept them.
The new feature is Facebook’s attempt to compete with other messaging apps such as WhatsApp.
“The fact that we have 1.65 billion people on Facebook already makes Messenger the best live, self-updating address book in the world,” David Marcus, head of Messaging Products, said. “Because of the scale of our network, I feel like we really have a shot at this.”
In a post on Marcus’ Facebook page, he writes that “providing more ways for people to safely share is an important part of making the world more open and connected.”
He additionally said that the “secret conversations” would be great for sending “sensitive account information to your spouse, or even your Social Security Number.”
At first, the feature will only be made available to a small percentage of users for testing. It is planned for everyone else to get the feature in the late summer or early fall. However, users will have to opt-in to the service.
