Messenger Privacy

ARCHIVED 2022-09-02, DATE APPROXIMATE · VERSION 20220902_rev01 · COMPARED WITH 20220505_rev01

Full text changes — 20220505_rev01 to 20220902_rev01

COLOUR MARKS THE SEVERITY OF A FLAGGED CLAUSE · + AND − MARK ADDED AND REMOVED

11- [Features](https://www.messenger.com/features)
22- [Desktop App](https://www.messenger.com/desktop)
33- [Privacy & Safety](https://www.messenger.com/privacy)
44- [For Developers](https://developers.facebook.com/products/messenger/)
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6## You control your Messenger experience
6## Connect with confidence
77
8## You control your Messenger experience
8## Connect with confidence
99
10## You control your Messenger experience
10## Connect with confidence
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12## Protecting your privacy
12## Open up as you are - privately, safely, confidently
1313
14Who you talk to and what you share should be up to you. We're dedicated to making sure Messenger is a safe, private, and secure place for you to connect with the people who matter. To do this, we've built tools that allow you to stay in control, secure your account, and stay safe on the platform.
14You deserve a private and safe messaging experience, where you can express yourself the way you want to the people you want.
1515
1616### KEEPING YOUR INFORMATION SAFE
1717
1818## Your messages are your messages.
1919
2020We want you to know what information we collect and how we use it. We don't use the content of your messages with other people for ad targeting, which means advertisers can't target you based on what you say in messages. As with other parts of Facebook, we collect information from Messenger primarily to provide the service, improve the product experience, and keep people safe and secure.
2121
2222[Learn More](https://www.facebook.com/ads/about/)
2323
24## KEEPING HACKERS AT BAY
24## BUILT WITH SAFETY BY DESIGN
2525
26### We have expert teams dedicated to detecting and preventing hackers from accessing your personal messages and information.
26### Messenger has tools to help keep you safe and in control of your own experience.
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28We also offer these tools to help you stay safe:
28Messenger's approach to safer private messaging:
2929
30#### Two-Factor Authentication
30#### Preventing harm
31at the source
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32Improve your account safety and help protect yourself from hacking and phishing attempts even if your password is compromised.
33Preventing harm from happening in the first place is the best way to keep people safe.
3334
34[Learn More](https://www.facebook.com/help/148233965247823)
35#### Giving you more choice and control
3536
36#### Login Alerts
37In addition to our efforts to prevent harm, we are giving you more control of your messaging inbox to account for the variety of experiences you want.
3738
38Help safeguard your account from potential threats and attacks by enabling login alerts. These alert you if we detect unrecognized logins and login attempts.
39#### Responding
40with care
3941
40[Learn More](https://www.facebook.com/help/162968940433354)
42When we become aware of potential abuse on our services, we respond. We do this by enforcing our Community Standards, sharing data with NCMEC and our law enforcement agencies.
4143
42#### Safer Message Requests
44## HELPING TO KEEP YOU SAFE
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44It's easy to block or delete new Message Requests. To keep you extra safe, we also hide or blur images and disable links unless you reply to the message or copy and paste the link in a browser tab.
46### Messenger helps to keep you safe online.
4547
46[Learn More](https://www.facebook.com/help/907368596013605)
48That's why we're constantly working to stop malicious activity before it reaches you.
4749
48## KEEPING YOU SAFE
50Here are the ways we work to protect your safety on Messenger:
4951
50### A safe platform is critical for you to feel secure about sharing with the people you care about.
52## HELPING TO KEEP YOU SAFE
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52That's why we're constantly working to stop malicious activity before it reaches you. Here are the ways we work to protect your privacy, safety, and well-being on Messenger:
54### Messenger helps to keep you safe online.
5355
54## KEEPING YOU SAFE
55
56### A safe platform is critical for you to feel secure about sharing with the people you care about.
57
5856That's why we're constantly working to stop malicious activity before it reaches you.
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60Here are the ways we work to protect your privacy, safety, and well-being on Messenger:
58Here are the ways we work to protect your safety on Messenger:
6159
62#### Stopping scammers
60#### Reduce unwanted interactions
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64We filter potentially harmful messages so they don't reach your inbox. Safety notices may pop up in your chats to help you spot potential scams or imposters and offer ways to respond like blocking the account.
62We filter potentially harmful messages so they don't reach your inbox. Safety notices may pop up in your chats to help you spot potential scams or imposters, and we detect and block millions of fake accounts on Facebook every day.
6563
66#### Removing fake accounts
64#### Control who you let in
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68We detect and block millions of fake accounts on Facebook every day to ensure your Messenger experience stays safe and secure. The majority of these accounts are [caught within minutes of registration](https://transparency.facebook.com/community-standards-enforcement), before they are able to cause harm.
66Messenger continuously innovates to protect you from harm, and tools like multi block help you control your experience. You decide who reaches your Chats list, who goes to your Message Request folder, and who can't message or call you at all.
6967
70#### Leveraging AI
68#### Reduce the spread of misinformation
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72We enlist the help of artificial intelligence to identify unusual behavioral patterns correlated with phishing, scamming, and other harmful activities to remove them from our platform. As these harmful activities evolve, so does our technology.
70To help reduce the spread of viral misinformation and harmful content, we limit the number of chats a message can be forwarded to at one time. We also have additional protections in place for content that has been identified as misinformation on Facebook and shared directly into Messenger. For more information, see [How Facebook Protects Elections](https://about.facebook.com/actions/preparing-for-elections-on-facebook/).
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74#### Spotting impersonators
72#### Foster a safer community
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76The Blue Badge on Messenger lets you make sure the account you're speaking with is authentic, and helps to prevent scammers from posing as public figures, media companies or brands.
74If you come across possible harmful content or behavior, such as harassment or impersonation, please report it. If we see that it violates our [Community Standards](https://l.messenger.com/l.php), we'll take appropriate action, which could include disabling their account or limiting their ability to send messages.
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78#### Reducing the spread of misinformation
76#### Enhance safeguards for minors
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80To reduce the spread of viral misinformation and harmful content, we limit the number of chats a message can be forwarded to at one time. We also have additional protections in place for content that has been identified as misinformation on Facebook and shared directly into Messenger. For more information, [see How Facebook Protects Elections](https://l.messenger.com/l.php).
78Keeping minors safe on our platforms is one of our greatest responsibilities. Automatically, we provide enhanced safety features for minors such as limiting who can message them and how they can be found in search, and offer them education and resources. We also use machine learning to detect and disable accounts who are engaging in inappropriate interactions with children.
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82#### Enhanced safeguards for minors
80#### Review and enforce
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84Keeping minors safe on our platforms is one of our greatest responsibilities. We provide enhanced safety features for children under the age of 18 such as limiting who can message them and how they can be found in search, and offer them educational tips. We also use machine learning to detect and disable accounts who are engaging in inappropriate interactions with children.
82Reporting is an essential tool for responding to abuse effectively and preventing further harm. Reports are prioritized based on the severity of harm, which allows us to respond quickly to issues like exploitation or child safety.
8583
8684## Additional resources
87
88New! Message your Instagram friends right from Messenger. [Learn More.](https://l.messenger.com/l.php)