Messaging app Viber is adding self-destructing chats for its 800 million users
You might not have heard of Viber, but it’s one of the
world’s biggest messaging apps — more than 800 million registered users
worldwide, with strong followings in parts of Asia, Eastern Europe, and
Northern Africa. Now, in order to give its customers a little more
privacy and security, the company is introducing a new feature named
“secret chats.” This basically gives users the option of starting
conversations that self-destruct after a certain time limit.
It follows on from the app’s introduction of “secret
messages” earlier this year — which allowed users to put the same
self-destructing timer on individual messages. Secret Chats also block
messages from being forwarded to other conversations, notify users on
iOS when someone takes a screenshot, and blocks screenshots altogether
on Android. Like Viber’s regular conversations, messages are encrypted
end-to-end, and you can also hide secret chats behind a PIN code if you
wish.
It’s just another example of how privacy and security
features that were previously niche have become commonplace in the
messaging world. Everyone needs to encrypt, because everyone is spying. Viber’s secret chats function should be rolling out to users on Android and iOS early next week.
The article was published on : theverge
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