An estimated 1.3 billion people use Facebook's Messenger app.
But what they may not know is that video and voice call on the app haven't been encrypted.
What this previously meant is that, theoretically, anyone could tap into the calls to hear what was being discussed, including Facebook itself.
A new update rolled out by the tech giant now hopes to remedy this situation by giving Messenger users the option to activate end-to-end encryption whenever they initiate a video or voice call through the app.
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End-to-end encryption means that the data transferred between two users is scrambled in a way that only those two users can see it, this prevents anyone else, including Facebook, to see the data while it's in transit between two devices.
Facebook's texting feature on Messenger has allowed encryption since 2016, however, this is not a default feature for the app and many users may be unaware it's an option at all.
"We’ll begin testing end-to-end encryption for group chats, including voice and video calls, for friends and family that already have an existing chat thread or are already connected," said Ruth Kricheli, Director of Product Management at Facebook Messenger.
"We’ll also begin a test for your delivery controls to work with your end-to-end encrypted chats. That way, you can prevent unwanted interactions by deciding who can reach your chats list, who goes to your requests folder, and who can’t message you at all."
Facebook has also announced that they plan to introduce end-to-end encryption for Instagram's DM service and video calls- you will still be able to block people you don't want to talk to and report messages which may be suspicious.
