College Students' Awareness and Perceptions Towards the End-To-End Encryption In Facebook Messenger

This study investigated the awareness and perceptions of college students at Misamis University inOzamiz City, Philippines, regarding end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in Facebook Messenger. Using aquantitative approach, it explored how demographic factors like gender and program of study influencedstudents' understanding and views on the platform's security features. A total of 311 respondents wereselected through convenience sampling. The results revealed moderate awareness of encryption, with thehighest mean score of 3.29 for belief in secure transmission in Secret Conversations and the lowest of 3.06regarding whether Messenger developers could read encrypted messages. In terms of security perceptions,students generally viewed Facebook Messenger as secure, with the highest mean score of 3.36 for overallsecurity and the lowest of 3.14 for trust in privacy guarantees. A significant positive correlation (r = 1, p <0.01) was found between awareness and perceptions, emphasizing the importance of awareness in shapingperceptions of digital security. Future research should explore digital literacy programs and factors likesocial media habits and technological exposure in influencing students' online security behaviors.