Facebook adds PGP encryption standards for online security

PGP, which stands for Pretty Good Privacy, is a data encryption and decryption protocol that gives its user cryptographic privacy as well as authentication for data communication. This data security protocol uses public key cryptography where users generate a public and private key and use it to encrypt their data and share those keys to the recipient of the data in order for them to decrypt it.

Despite the new security and privacy protocol, Facebook does not guarantee that all its communication service is well-protected. The adoption of the PGP protocol will have a big impact on Facebook especially for those who use the social network as a medium for activism.

The PGP feature can be used to encrypt e-mails, message notification and friend requests. Facebook added that direct messages sent from one person to another will be not be encrypted. This means that if a user’s Facebook account is compromised, or requested by a law enforcement agencies to be accessed, messages stored within the user’s profile are still accessible and readable.