Facebook Will Now Help You Secure Your Emails Just Like Edward Snowden

Facebook has added a new security feature to further secure emails users receive from the social network. The update, announced in a company blog post Monday, increases the privacy of email content sent by Facebook through a free encryption program known as PGP.

Currently, the content of emails from Facebook is readable to anyone who can access your email, such as your email provider. Now, Facebook will let users add OpenPGP public keys -- the same encryption program that Edward Snowden used to hide his emails from the National Security Agency -- to their profile.

When Facebook members enable encrypted notifications, they create a public key that is used to encrypt messages sent to them. They also generate a second key that is private and allows only that user to decrypt and view the message. (For more: read this New Yorker piece).

This new encryption feature pertains to emails you would receive from Facebook such as notifications. If you don't want Facebook to email you about notifications anyway, go to Settings (top right corner) > Notifications > Email and then unsubscribe from all notifications.

To set the PGP system up, go to this page on Facebook and follow the steps. The management tool is not yet supported on mobile and must be done on desktop.

The update is another in a series of recent changes Facebook has made it to its privacy settings. Last week, Facebook introduced Security Checkup. This site feature, which is gradually rolling out, provides a step-by-step guide for users on how to keep their accounts more secure. That includes turning on log-in alerts and updating account passwords.

Meanwhile, all Facebook users have access to Privacy Checkup, the current online guide that details security steps to take. For those who want even more privacy on Facebook, you can use a Tor connection to remain anonymous while browsing the site.