Technology: Want to retract your BBM message? Yes!

If you are a BBM fan, no longer will you have to pay to retract a wrong message or picture sent into a group chat. Blackberry Messenger is offering its users, the ability to retract sent messages and pictures for free via a new update released on March 31.

Also read: Now you can delete, send timed messages on BBM

The company had launched message retraction services way back in 2014, but until recently, it was limited to individual messages and available only at a monthly subscription. The new updates allow users to retract group messages, pictures as well as entire chats and without paying any subscription fees.

Users can also control how long contacts can view messages and pictures that have been shared, or communicate their location for only as long as they want to use a timer built right into the app, the company said in a statement released, today.

Is it good?
Till today, there are no commercial messaging services be it Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, Viber, FB Chat or Twitter direct messages, that allow users to retract their messages once sent (except Snapchat). So, this new feature in BBM gives users greater control over their messages. Previously, BBM users could retract only single messages, but since December, BBM allows retraction of an entire chat as well as pictures even in groups (up to 200 users).

How much does it cost
It's completely free now. Till last month, users could time and retract only three messages for free. For additional retraction or sending timed messages, users were required to buy a Timed and Retracted Messages subscription available for $0.99 a month. If you had subscribed for the service, you will have to either un-subscribe (on Android) or do not renew at all.

Who is it for?
Anyone who is afraid of (or used to) saying wrong things at wrong platforms. On a serious note, its a good tool for NGOs, social activists, journalists and whistle blowers whose jobs demand secrecy and can use this feature to maintain their privacy and to interact with their sources and vice versa without having to worry about divulging their identity.

Is it 100% private and secure?
We can't prove that BBM is 100% private and secure, and will know more only after privacy promoters release their verdict on the feature.

Side effects
Since we live in an information-frenzied society, and if we look at recent incidents (for example: Kanhaiya Kumar fake video incident), it will become easier for miscreants to spread propaganda and use the account for illegal activities.