Facebook Inc. will be testing a new feature in its popular messaging app called secret conversations, which will bring end-to-end encryption to your messages. Any messages that you send in secret conversations will remain private between you and the recipient, neither Facebook, the FBI or a local snoop will be able to access these messages. Facebook also adds additional security by allowing users to add a time limited for a message, after which the message will disappear.  

Like Facebook-owned WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger’s end-to-end encryption will be based on Open Whisper System’s Signal Protocol. However, unlike WhatsApp that applied end-to-end encryption to all messages by default, users will need to opt which messages that want to keep secure in Facebook Messenger. This is a similar strategy followed by Google when they launched their messaging app Allo that incorporates optional Incognito mode.

Facebook is rolling out secret conversations to a small test audience in order to “gather feedback about the functionality, measure performance and introduce tools to enable you to report objectionable content to us,” Facebook said in a statement. The rest of the 900 million Facebook Messenger users will be able to start enjoying secret conversations later this summer.   

If you are one of the lucky users to get secret conversations we look at how to use it and any limitations that it has.

How to use secret conversations?

Facebook is doing limited testing of secret conversations currently and will be rolling it out to a wider audience in the summer. If you are one of the lucky ones that have received the new feature early, here’s how to use it.

Make sure you have the latest version of Facebook Messenger installed on your device for iOS or Android. The new secret conversation is currently only available on the apps and not on Messenger.com, Facebook chat or the desktop Messenger app.  

• When chatting to a friend on Messenger, to start a secret conversation, simply tap their name at the top of the message thread.
• Tap the option Secret Conversation and a new message thread will open. A note at the top of the thread will inform you that the conversation is end-to-end encrypted.
• If the information that you are sharing in your secret conversation is confidential information, like bank account details, medical details, etc. you can also add a time period to the message. When the time lapses the message will be erased. To add a time limit to your message, tap the clock icon, in line with the text field > select a time period from the drop-down list. You can choose a time period as short as five seconds all the way up to six hours. Type your message and tap send, once your time period lapses your message will be deleted.

The limitations of secret conversations

• While Facebook Messenger allows you to easily pick up ongoing conversations when you switch between devices, secret conversations will not work the same way. If you start a secret conversation on your phone, you won’t be able to pick up the conversation on your tablet, and the same goes for the recipient. The secret conversation remains between two people and two devices.
• Messages that you send in secret conversations are also limited when it comes to format. You won’t be able to send GIFs or videos at this stage.
• You also won’t be able to access other Facebook Messenger features, like payments, chatbots and a backup of your chats.   

Images via: Facebook