14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook has started researching the possibilities of performing analytical data analyses on encrypted data without needing to decrypt it. AI researchers are reportedly being recruited by the corporation, according to Endgadget.
The findings may lead to Facebook using encrypted WhatsApp communications to target adverts. Based on the results, Facebook may help protect personal data while preserving its ad targeting capabilities. Homomorphic encryption is a part of cryptography that is largely reliant on mathematics. Other companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are also researching this solution.
Homomorphic encryption is designed to provide businesses with the ability to read and analyze data, while also ensuring the data remains encrypted to secure it from cybersecurity hazards and retain user privacy. For the time being, Facebook considers that it is too soon to implement homomorphic encryption in WhatsApp. Then again, if all goes well, Facebook could gain in a variety of ways in the future.
Facebook plans to continue its ad targeting analytics while ensuring users' privacy
The business hopes to fulfill the goal of securing data without affecting ad targeting, thereby protecting economic interests while also satisfying regulators who have raised worries about how the firm manages user information. A joint letter from Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom urged Facebook not to continue the project without ensuring the safety of Facebook users and allowing law enforcement access to communications content with court approval to protect the public, particularly children.
Facebook declined to comment. Any way you look at it, encryption is a difficult problem for Facebook, regardless of whether the company is able to investigate the data.
Realistically speaking, it could be several years before the option of employing homomorphic encryption with Facebook becomes a reality. Moreover, it's not the first time the social media giant considered this approach. In 2019, Facebook announced plans to roll out end-to-end encryption (E2EE) across all of its messaging services, including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.