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WhatsApp users can now make end-to-end encrypted video calls for groups of up to eight. But once you ... [+] add more people to your video chat, youll be redirected to the much less secure and private Facebook Messenger Rooms.

WhatsApp users were just given an awesome new featurethe ability to make end-to-end encrypted video calls for groups of up to eight. But it seems that eight is the limit if you want to stay secure, because once you add more people to your video chat, youll be redirected to themuch less secure and private Facebook Messenger Rooms.

Thats according toWABetaInfo, which discovered that WhatsApp is working to add Messenger Rooms shortcuts that will redirect you to Messenger if you want to use a Room. The feature isnt available yet and the release date is unknown.

Facebook bought WhatsApp back in 2014, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg last year outlined howFacebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram would be integrated at the back end. But those plans have run into problems of late, due to thedifficulty of implementing end-to-end encryption across platforms.

End-to-end encryptionwhich means no one can access your encrypted data, including WhatsApp owner Facebookis actually pretty rare in video chat apps.Zoom has just bought a security company so it can add end-to-end encryption, while up and coming video chat platformJitsiis working onadding the feature soon.

Signalis end-to-end encrypted but does not support group chats, so the best options for now are WhatsApp and Apples FaceTime. But if your group is more than eight, I wouldnt recommend you use Facebook Messenger Roomsat least if you value security and privacy.

As well as the fact Messenger Rooms is not end-to-end encrypted, its not a very private service. Its privacy policy is the same as Facebooks so theres a lot of data youd need to give up.

However, its not all bad with Messenger Roomsat least if youre a participantbecause you dont have to have a Facebook account to use it.

Lack of end-to-end encryption means Messenger Room chats are not as private as WhatsApp calls, but this might may not be an issue to those choosing not to sign up to a Facebook account to remain more anonymous, says Jake Moore, cybersecurity specialist at ESET.

However he adds: Personally, I would still recommend only using fully end-to-end encrypted communication services for my own privacy and even as a silent protest to the tech giants to show that we care about it.

I agree. WhatsApp is a great service, but the fact its owned by Facebook is always going to be a red flag for me, especially if I then have to use Messenger Rooms for large group chats. Signal would be my first choice if its a one-to-one video call, and FaceTime otherwise if you have an Apple device.

If not,Zoom has suffered a lot of security and privacy issues, but its trying to be better. So its even an option for large video calls to socialise with your friends, if youd rather avoid Facebook Messenger Rooms.

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WhatsApp Video Calls Will Soon Support 50: This Is Why 8s The Limit For Your Security - Forbes