Facebook said on Thursday that its Messenger application was now able to discreetly track down scammers, using the communication system of smartphones in the background.
Security messages will appear in the exchanges if the activity behind the scenes is deemed suspicious by artificial intelligence technology.
"Avoid dangerous interactions and scams"
This new feature "will help millions of people potentially avoid dangerous interactions and scams, without compromising their privacy," said Jay Sullivan, a product safety officer at Facebook. It was already deployed in March on phones operated by Android (Google) and will be deployed this week on iPhone (Apple).
"Too often people chat with someone online they think they know, when they are an impostor," said Jay Sullivan. "These false accounts are difficult to identify and the consequences can be expensive."
On the road to full encryption
Artificial intelligence identifies questionable behavior, such as sending large-scale messages, targeting certain regions or demographics. This technology does not require examining the content of messages, ensures Facebook, which intends to switch to full encryption - called "end-to-end" - of Messenger, like its other WhatsApp messaging.
"To prepare for end-to-end encryption, we are investing in tools like this one, which protect people's privacy without reading messages," said Jay Sullivan.
Messenger already uses software capable of fighting spam and hindering adults' attempts to contact minors they do not seem to know.
With the coronavirus pandemic, Facebook has undertaken to move up a gear on the implementation of new tools which strengthen its platforms, more used than ever thanks to containment.
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