What Is A Filtered Message On Facebook Messenger

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Chances are that if you use Facebook today (and those chances are loftier because Facebook just passed over 2.6 billion monthly active users), you have heard all the hype virtually the Facebook Messenger App and concerns over Facebook Messenger privacy.

To kickoff off the whole fiasco in 2014, users were forced to download the split Facebook Messenger App if they wanted to use messaging through the Facebook app itself for mobile. This started causing Facebook users to be leary.

Why? Because the Facebook Messenger app asked for access to a lot more than permissions than the average app and, let's be honest, the permissions are a little frightening when you showtime looking into them (more on that below).

And then, in early 2018, the Facebook-Cambridge Analytical data scandal happened which exposed the fact that millions of Facebook users' personal data was existence harvested without their consent by Cambridge Analytica. This led to the #DeleteFacebook movement which trended on Twitter.

Needless to say, Facebook users have been worried almost their privacy for a long time now, and for good reason.

If yous have questions about Facebook Messenger when information technology comes to your privacy, then you're in the right place.

We have answers. Use the guide below to spring around as you lot need:

Are Messages On Messenger Private?
Is Facebook Messenger Secure?
Can Anybody Encounter Your Letters On Messenger?
How Do I Start Secret Conversations On Messenger?
Facebook and Facebook Messenger App Permissions
Why Does Facebook Need These Permissions?
Is Facebook the Only App With These "Invasive" Permissions?
Should You Exist Worried Virtually Your Privacy With the Facebook Messenger App Or Not?
What Are Skilful Alternatives to Facebook Messenger?

Are Letters On Messenger Private?

NO. Unless you lot are using Secret Conversations (explained below), your messages on Facebook Messenger are not private.

Messages that are sent through the Facebook Messenger app are Not cease-to-end encrypted. This means that whatsoever message you ship on Messenger could exist seen or intercepted in plain text.

If yous truly intendance almost your privacy, you would never use a messaging app that is not terminate-to-end encrypted past default such as Facebook Messenger.

What does cease-to-finish encryption hateful? Glad y'all asked! In super elementary terms, if y'all send a message from your phone that says "Hi Mark" and the message is encrypted, information technology gets sent as a bunch of jumbled messages and numbers before it reaches Mark'due south phone.

This means that if your "Hi Mark" message was intercepted by anyone, information technology would look something like this: TUVm6HIrSJjhNU9x8gIaWJF4KtK3I5TYaSDdaxcDlrI=

That way, nobody (including hackers) would exist able to know what the bulletin is saying.

However, since the Facebook Messenger app does not encrypt your messages by default, all of your pictures and messages you send can be seen by Facebook.

In fact, Facebook confirmed it uses engineering science to spy on your Facebook messages and pictures. Fifty-fifty though these messages aren't always seen by an actual person, that'due south nonetheless a very shady business decision and the exact opposite of "privacy."

Sounds pretty scary, doesn't it? Yet millions of users keep to apply Facebook Messenger on a daily basis.

Is Facebook Messenger Secure?

NO. Facebook Messenger is only "secure" if you are using their Hugger-mugger Conversations feature.

In 2016, Facebook appear a new characteristic offering encrypted, cloak-and-dagger, cocky-destructing Messenger chats called Hush-hush Conversations.

Even though Secret Conversations have been a feature that Facebook Messenger has offered since 2016, many users today don't even know the feature exists.

In March of 2019, Facebook CEO, Marker Zuckerberg, posted a note on Facebook called "A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking" in which he outlines the company's visions to work towards building a privacy-focused messaging and social networking platform through Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp (all platforms owned by Facebook).

In the article, Marker Zuckerberg writes, "I believe the futurity of advice volition increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people tin can exist confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won't stick effectually forever."

This would include end-to-end encryption on all Facebook-owned messaging services. It should be noted that WhatsApp already has end-to-terminate encryption congenital into the app by default (good news!).

All of that being said, Facebook's messaging platforms aren't even shut to being fully encrypted and they take said that encrypting Messenger will take years.

Can Anybody See Your Messages On Messenger?

Technically, Aye. Since your messages are not cease-to-end encrypted, that ways that Facebook, law enforcement, hackers, over-reaching governments, or anyone who knew what they were doing could potentially read your letters.

Now, this doesn't mean that your friends or family unit members would be able to read your messages. They would only exist able to read them if they had your username and password and were signed into your account.

Nonetheless, your Facebook Messenger messages are stored on Facebook's servers word for discussion. And then, if Facebook really wanted to, they could view all your messages or, in some cases, would have to manus your letters over to law enforcement or the government.

If Facebook's servers or your own Facebook account was always hacked, your messages and pictures you've sent could potentially all be retrieved every bit well.

How Do I Kickoff Undercover Conversations On Messenger?

If you want to use Secret Conversations on Facebook Messenger (which offering end-to-end encryption), you lot have to first enable Secret Conversations on your account.

Follow the steps below to enable Hush-hush Conversations on Facebook Messenger for both Android and iOS:

Open Facebook Messenger
Tap on your Contour Movie in the upper-left
Scroll down and tap on Secret Conversations
Brand sure the Hole-and-corner Conversations toggle is turned ON

Once Clandestine Conversations are enabled, then you can go and actually utilize them.

Follow the steps below to kickoff a Hole-and-corner Chat on Facebook Messenger for Android:

Open Facebook Messenger
Tap on the Pencil icon in the upper-right
Brand sure the Padlock toggle is turned ON
Choose the person you lot want to start a Secret Chat with

Follow the steps below to outset a Secret Conversation on Facebook Messenger for iOS:

Open Facebook Messenger
Tap on the Pencil icon in the upper-right
Tap on Secret in the upper-correct
Choose the person y'all want to commencement a Hugger-mugger Conversation with

For more data, see the Facebook Secret Conversations help article.

Read: Countersign Security – Why Secure Passwords Need Length Over Complexity

Facebook and Facebook Messenger App Permissions

As far every bit Facebook and Facebook Messenger App permissions go, there has been a lot of speculation e'er since 2014 when users were forced to download the separate Facebook Messenger app in order to use messaging on mobile.

Facebook users have been concerned about how Facebook is using these permissions to their advantage to send personalized advertisements and make coin off of them.

Well, we went and started looking into the Facebook and Facebook Messenger permissions and have presented our findings below.

First of all:

If yous accept the regular Facebook App downloaded, you already have agreed to nearly all the permissions that the Facebook Messenger App requests!

Aye, yous heard that correctly. The regular Facebook app (non the Messenger app) uses near all the same permissions as the Messenger app does.

Don't believe us? Here'southward an listing of the Facebook and Facebook Messenger permissions side-by-side:

Every bit of Facebook version 265.0.0.61.103 and Facebook Messenger version 259.0.0.18.120

In the above pictures, you'll come across screenshots of the Facebook app and the Messenger app's permissions. After reading through them, some of them stand out as being pretty scary if you've never looked into these before (some are listed below).

Facebook Messenger App Permissions Examples:

straight call phone numbers
receive and read your text messages (SMS or MMS)
take pictures and videos
tape audio
change network connectivity
download files without notification
read the contents of your shared storage

Facebook App Permissions Examples:

read your text letters (SMS or MMS)
have pictures and videos
tape sound
change network connectivity
download files without notification
access location in the groundwork

Notice that many of the permissions are the aforementioned, and the two apps request nearly identical permissions (with a few differences). After all, yous are able to phone call people directly using the Facebook Messenger app which explains why it has a few differences from the regular Facebook app such equally permission to direct phone call phone numbers.

Why Does Facebook Need These Permissions?

Well, Facebook has some pages in their Assistance Center to explain to users what the permissions are used for. The pages have an explanation for both the regular Facebook App and the Facebook Messenger App.

See these links:

Messenger App Help Page – Why is the Messenger app requesting permission to access features on my Android phone or tablet?
Facebook App Help Page – Why is the Facebook app requesting permission to access features on my Android?

Some examples Facebook provides as to why they need those permissions (can also be found in the links above):

Read your text messages (SMS or MMS) – If yous add a telephone number to your account, this allows us to ostend your phone number automatically by finding the confirmation code that we send via text message.
Take pictures and video – This permission allows you lot to take photos and videos within the Messenger app to hands send to your friends and other contacts.
Record audio – This permission allows you lot to send voice messages, make gratuitous voice calls, and transport videos inside Messenger.
Straight call phone numbers – This permission allows you to phone call a Messenger contact past tapping on the person's phone number, institute in a card within your bulletin thread with the person.
Read calendar events plus confidential information – This allows the app to show your agenda availability (based on your phone'due south calendar) when you're viewing an consequence on Facebook.

Another thing that is important to note — An application needs permissions in gild to go its features to work. I have fifty-fifty developed some basic Android apps in the past for fun that required some of these permissions.

For example, if in that location is a button within your application that allows the user to accept a picture or video, the developer needs to require permission to accept pictures and videos along with the permission to record sound . Otherwise, that button is useless because it won't do anything. Uncomplicated every bit that.

Is Facebook the Only App With These "Invasive" Permissions?

Absolutely not. This is something that you would think is mutual sense, but apparently information technology'south not. In that location are plenty of other apps out there that use many of these aforementioned permissions.

Here is a list of most of the "invasive" permissions listed above that the Facebook and Messenger App use forth with other popular apps that employ those aforementioned permissions:

straight call phone numbers
- Also used past:
  - AVG AntiVirus Security – 100,000,000+ downloads
  - Skype – 500,000,000+ downloads
receive, read, and edit your text messages (SMS or MMS)
- Also used by:
  - AVG AntiVirus Security (all of them) – 100,000,000+ downloads
  - WhatsApp Messenger (only receive and send SMS messages) – 1 billion+ downloads
  - Skype (only receive SMS and read SMS/MMS) – 500,000,000+ downloads
  - Snapchat (only receive SMS) – 500,000,000+ downloads
take pictures and videos
- Besides used by:
  - AVG AntiVirus Security – 100,000,000+ downloads
  - WhatsApp Messenger – 1 billion+ downloads
  - Skype – 500,000,000+ downloads
  - Instagram – one billion+ downloads
  - Snapchat – 500,000,000+ downloads
record sound
- Likewise used by:
  - WhatsApp Messenger – 1 billion+ downloads
  - Skype – 500,000,000+ downloads
  - Instagram – 1 billion+ downloads
  - Snapchat – 500,000,000+ downloads

With all of that new information, it'southward however a matter of how the company decides to employ those permissions.

For example, if a company such as Facebook has every bit much data every bit they do, there are a lot of bad things they could exercise with that data.

Data is precious. Companies will pay absurd amounts of money for Facebook to sell it to them and so that they can advertise to you. Plus, knowing Facebook's extremely shady past, tin can you trust Facebook? Nosotros don't.

Should Yous Be Worried Well-nigh Your Privacy With the Facebook Messenger App Or Non?

The answer is ABSOLUTELY YES y'all should be worried!

Facebook is not even shut to having terminate-to-finish encryption past default on all of the apps they own (Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp). The only Facebook-endemic app that has finish-to-end encryption past default right now is WhatsApp, so if you HAVE to utilize one, we would highly advise using WhatsApp.

Betwixt the Facebook-Cambridge Analytical information scandal, Facebook admitting that they use technology to spy on your messages and pictures, Facebook blatantly suppressing sure topics on their platforms, and so much more than, it's no wonder that no ane trusts Facebook.

Facebook is using the data they gather almost each private user so that they can sell that information to tertiary-party companies. This is how Facebook monetizes the data they receive. Without it, they wouldn't exist in business organisation.

Not sure how your data is used? You lot tin can poke through the various categories on the Facebook Data Use Policy page.

The office nosotros should be even more worried nearly is the fact that, regardless of whatsoever permission that any app could ever enquire united states of america, much of online Cyberspace information (whether that exist Facebook chats, websites visited, pictures sent, etc.) goes directly to the NSA because apparently nosotros all demand to exist tracked. But that's a whole other conversation…

What Are Proficient Alternatives to Facebook Messenger?

Employ Signal.

Happy messaging!

Jake is the founder of Crambler. He is a fully-remote software engineer past day and a guitar-wielding musician past night with a burning passion for engineering science, entrepreneurship, and music.