From wired.com
IN AN EFFORT led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook has plans to rearchitect WhatsApp, Instagram direct messages, and Facebook Messenger so that messages can travel across any of the platforms. The New York Times first reported the move Friday, noting also that Zuckerberg wants the initiative to “incorporate end-to-end encryption.” Melding those infrastructures would be a massive task regardless, but designing the scheme to universally preserve end-to-end encryption—in a way that users understand—poses a whole additional set of critical challenges.
As things stand now, WhatsApp chats are end-to-end encrypted by default, while Facebook Messenger only offers the feature if you turn on “Secret Conversations.” Instagram does not currently offer any form of end-to-end encryption for its chats. WhatsApp’s move to add default encryption for all users was a watershed moment in 2016, bringing the protection to a billion people by flipping one switch.