WhatsApp may be the messaging app getting all the negative attention for its privacy and security problems, but Facebook Messenger is far worse.
Facebook has revealed that it has captured links and downloaded files shared between users. Facebook even tells you that it monitors the content of your messages to “ensure compliance with their policies,” according to Zak Doffman of Forbes.
While Europe has passed data privacy laws which protect users from this egregious practice, users everywhere else in the world are still vulnerable.
End-to-end encryption? That’s cute
Meanwhile, let’s not forget that Messenger still does not support end-to-end encryption, despite the continuous promises made by Mark Zuckerberg that it is a priority. Just last week he remarked, “The most important aspect of privacy and security is that your conversations should stay between you. That means your conversations should always be end-to-end encrypted and they should disappear when you’re done with them.” But when Forbes pressed Facebook on the issue, inquiring when it planned to roll out end-to-end encryption, Facebook demurred, simply saying that “that it’s going to take time and we’re committed to doing this right.”
Messenger’s most critical issue is its lack of default end-to-end encryption, which WhatsApp has just stressed in an update to all its users is critical. WhatsApp cannot send server-side link previews or download private attachments and links, it cannot monitor content. As it says, “we can’t read or listen to your personal conversations.”
But Messenger can—and does. Remember, this is data hungry Facebook we’re talking about. If you still use Facebook Messenger, you really need to switch.
If you need a secure messaging app, WhatsApp is certainly better than Facebook Messenger. Even better, why not download Signal, which won’t be sharing your metadata with Facebook?