User Understanding and Perspectives on End-to-End Encrypted Instant Messaging Apps

Instant messaging applications are increasingly claiming to offer end-to-end encryption. Yet actual, user perspectives on the necessity, appropriateness, and desirability of such “secure apps” are poorly understood. This work considers two user surveys on university students, and focusing on both user perspectives and claimed level of security understanding for three secure instant messaging apps – Signal Private Messenger, the Secret Conversation feature of Facebook Messenger, and Crypho. The first survey maps the students’ knowledge of secure instant messaging and common usage of these apps, while the second survey takes a closer look at the awareness and practices among those students who have used at least one of the target applications.