Facebook launches screenshot alert capability
Facebook has released a new feature that notifies users if their messages on the Messenger app are being screenshot. This capability is aimed to enhance security for users.
Facebook has released a new feature that notifies users if their messages on the Messenger app are being screenshot. This capability is aimed to enhance security for users.
“New update for end-to-end encrypted Messenger chats so you get a notification if someone screenshots a disappearing message,” Meta co-founder Mark Zuckerberg recently posted on his Facebook account.
Zuckerberg said that the feature is only available on Facebook’s Messenger app for now, adding that “we’re also adding GIFs, stickers, and reactions to encrypted chats.”
The new security feature lets users know if someone screenshots their conversation without their consent, which violates the law.
Facebook previously added end-to-end encryption to increase protection against hackers, criminals and other prying eyes. In secret conversations, users can set a time limit so that their messages disappear after being read by the other person. If the message isn’t read within 14 days, it will automatically disappear. However, users can still forward, copy, photograph or screenshot and save the message before it disappears.
To rectify this, the new update will notify users if the person they’re chatting with screenshots a disappearing message. The new function is an attempt from Meta, Facebook’s parent company, to improve privacy on its messaging app.
