Plans to introduce end-to-end encryption on Facebook and Instagram have been delayed due to a child safety dispute. As parent company Facebook is now called, Meta says that in-app message encryption is now coming in 2023.
This process means that only the sender and receiver can read the message, but law enforcement or meta cannot. However, child protection groups and politicians have warned that it could prevent police from investigating child abuse.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel also criticized the technology, saying it could “seriously prevent” law enforcement agencies from prosecuting criminal activity. Including online violence against children, earlier this year. Confidentiality versus Protection. End-to-end encryption works by “encrypting” or encrypting data transferred between the phone and another device.
The only way to read a message is usually by physically accessing the unlocked device that sent or received it. This technology is standard for the popular WhatsApp messaging service. Which is also part of Meta, but not for the company’s other apps.
The NSPCC has requested freedom of information from 46 law enforcement agencies in England, Wales, and Scotland, asking. Them to disband platforms that have been used to commit sex crimes against children over the past year.
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This raises concerns that Meta’s plans to extend encryption to Facebook’s widely used messenger and Instagram direct messages could prevent most attackers from disclosing it. The NSPCC said encrypting standard messages could make it easier to spread child abuse images or haircuts online.
However, proponents say that encryption protects consumer privacy and deters government curiosity and unscrupulous hackers. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made this argument himself when he announced in 2019 that he would encrypt Facebook.
Antigone Davis, Meta’s global head of security, said it was delaying the encryption rollout until 2023 because the company took the time to “get it right.”
The company previously said the change would not happen until 2022 at the earliest.
Davis said, “As a company that connects billions of people around the world and has developed industry-leading technology, we are committed to protecting people’s private communications and protecting people online.”