Meta has introduced Incognito Chat with Meta AI, a new mode for WhatsApp and the Meta AI app that offers private conversations which the company claims cannot be accessed by anyone, including Meta. The feature is built on WhatsApp’s Private Processing technology and will be gradually rolled out over the next few months. A specific release date has not yet been announced.

This announcement comes a week after Meta removed end-to-end encryption from regular Instagram DMs on May 8, which sparked criticism over user privacy. Incognito Chat differs from traditional messaging by applying a different model specifically to AI interactions rather than person-to-person conversations.

Incognito Chat offers a private, temporary conversation between the user and Meta AI. Messages are processed in a secure environment that Meta claims it cannot access. Conversations are not stored, and messages automatically disappear after the chat ends.

Meta notes that this is different from incognito modes in other AI apps, which often still allow the provider to see incoming questions and outgoing responses. According to Meta, Incognito Chat is designed so that even Meta itself cannot read the messages.

Meta has announced an upcoming Side Chat feature for WhatsApp, which will also be protected by Private Processing. Side Chat is intended to offer private AI assistance within an ongoing WhatsApp conversation without interrupting the chat or exposing its content to the AI in an insecure way.

Both Incognito Chat and Side Chat will be gradually rolled out on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app. Meta has published a technical whitepaper explaining how Private Processing manages AI conversations, available through its AI documentation.

The company has not specified whether Incognito Chat will be launched globally or in select regions first, or if the same Private Processing method will be applied to other Meta platforms.