You want to believe that Facebook message is private. It’s supposed to be between you and your recipient. But even private Facebook messages are subject to hacking. Facebook tries to ensure privacy.
Facebook introduces a new feature called Secret Conversations. You can scramble and self-destruct your messages. The social media conglomerate didn’t give an exact date. But a press statement said Secret Conversations will be available later this summer. You need the latest Facebook Messenger for your smart device. That smart device needs to have the utmost security. It’s probably better to get a phone with fingerprint security. Choose a Facebook friend, with a green dot. That’s how you know the person is available to chat. Tap their name and choose Secret Conversation. The recipient will designate their encrypted device. Your message appears in a black box instead of a blue one. That’s how you will separate Secret Conversation from Facebook Messenger. Facebook gets an identity key that confirms your real identity. Secret Conversation can hold word messages, likes, emoji, and photos. It can’t hold videos (at least not now). You choose when to self-destruct a message. You can choose five seconds, like they do in Mission Impossible. Or you can choose a whole year.
I hope Secret Conversation is successful for another reason. Lately, hackers and spammers posing as Facebook friends and family have been sending messages. When I click on, they’re trying to sell me stuff or get me in a ‘home based business’. It took a while. I shortly noticed the real friends didn’t talk like the posers do. I wonder if they would have broken through Secret Conversation. Would encryption be strong enough to tell a real friend from an imposture? If Facebook didn’t notice already, summer is half over. They said Secret Conversation would be released later that summer. Shouldn’t they hurry with that?