Facebook Messenger may soon have 'Face ID' app lock

Facebook is reportedly working on a feature that will give the option of using a 'Face ID' app lock on Facebook Messenger.

Giving the users an option to have secure chats on Facebook Messenger, Facebook will soon roll out the option to have a 'Face ID' lock. This will help the users lock out the messages for when they are away. It is much like a regular biometric lock that can be used on a device.

The messaging platform will give the users the option to set the duration after which the biometric lock will be enforced. The options are: After I leave Messenger, 1 minute after leaving Messenger, 15 minutes after leaving Messenger and 1 hour after leaving Messenger.

Facebook Messenger's update came to light after Reverse Engineer Jane Manchun Wong shared the screenshot on Twitter. The Face ID will not be sent to or stored by Facebook's servers, she adds based on the description shown in the screenshot.

"When enabled, you will need to use Face ID to unlock the app. You can still replay to messaged from notifications and answer calls if the app is locked. Your Face ID will not (be) transmitted to or stored by Facebook, Inc," states the description put up on the feature by Facebook Messenger.

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Commenting on Wong's observation, Facebook's EMEA communications manager Alexandru Voica said, "For these types of privacy features, we would use the face id-type settings already present on the device, not our own version." It was his attempt to dismiss speculations about privacy concerns and related debates that are bound to happen on the topic.