Facebook Plans to Improve Privacy With Auto-Expiring Messages

After receiving criticism for how it's neglected the privacy of its users, Facebook has outlined its plans to improve and increase the social media giant's privacy in an extensive blog post from founder Mark Zuckerberg. In the post, Zuckberg outlines how Facebook will roll-out a new way to have messages auto-expire, with users able to control how long their messages will last.

"As I think about the future of the internet, I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than today’s open platforms," Zuckerberg explained. "Today we already see that private messaging, ephemeral stories, and small groups are by far the fastest growing areas of online communication.”

The "privacy-focused platform" he detailed will include "end-to-end encryption," which he adds will prevent anyone, including Facebook, from seeing what's shared across Facebook's platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp. Facebook will still monitor for "child exploitation, terrorism, and extortion." He said, "We have a responsibility to work with law enforcement and to help prevent these wherever we can."

Zuckerberg added that Facebook will be committing to more secure data storage. "People should expect that we won't store sensitive data in countries with weak records on human rights like privacy and freedom of expression in order to protect data from being improperly accessed," he explained.

"I believe we should be working towards a world where people can speak privately and live freely knowing that their information will only be seen by who they want to see it and won't all stick around forever," he added. "If we can help move the world in this direction, I will be proud of the difference we've made." Read the full blog post here.