Google is rolling out end-to-end encryption for RCS Chat in Android
Let's go back to talking about Google Messages and, after having reported the news that has arrived on board Android Auto, we turn our attention to privacy and security by indicating that the support for End-to-end encryption (E2E) in RCS Chats is released for everyone.
The feature first arrived in the beta of Google Messages late last year, and while you can read an entire whitepaper on how it works, the short version is that it makes RCS Chat-based conversations in Google Messages safe in a way that no one can read the single message sent or received. It is a security and privacy protocol already implemented by other messaging apps such as WhatsApp (but not Facebook Messenger).
It must be said that for now Google has enabled E2E encryption in RCS Chat only for single conversations but not for group chats. We will probably have to wait a little longer for those also because, remember, E2E encryption is not part of the RCS standard but it is something that Google is implementing only within its own app.
Reports in the dedicated subreddit indicate that end-to-end encryption is starting to appear on devices that haven't activated the beta of Google Messages, so this is the start of a broader and more general rollout, although it may not be available to everyone immediately.
To check, just start an RCS Chat in the Google Messages app with someone else and check if you have the little lock icon that appears in supported conversations - it should also be accompanied by a notification when the feature activates.
