Google said it is testing end-to-end encryption for RCS (Rich Communication Services)-based group chats in the Messages app. The company stated that this feature will be available to users participating in the open beta program in the coming weeks.

Group chats will be protected with end-to-end encryption

End-to-end encryption of group chats in the Google Messages app means that no one but you and the recipients can see your group conversations, not even Google or any third party. Texts, media files and all other files in the group chat will be encrypted. Encryption converts this data into scrambled text. This text cannot be decrypted without a secret key generated on your device and the devices receiving the message. The process ensures that messages shared in a group chat cannot be accessed by anyone other than the parties involved.

Google added end-to-end encryption to Messages for individual chats in 2021. This feature works over Google’s RCS protocol; therefore, the chat feature must be enabled in the Messaging app to take advantage of it. Classic SMS and MMS messages are not encrypted. You can understand that your correspondence is end-to-end encrypted from both the lock symbol next to the send button and the title with the lock symbol in the chat.