WhatsApp, Telegram, or Signal? If you are also confused about which messaging application is best then read along, this article will shed light on the subject.
The perplexed privacy update of WhatsApp created a lot of uproar amongst cybersecurity experts and general users. This created a rift and users started downloading Telegram. Recently, Telegraph announced they surpassed 500 million active users around the world. The number may seem incomparable with the 2 billion active users of WhatsApp but with a lot of misinformation, the situation will get interesting in near future.
What went wrong with WhatsApp?
Whatsapp has been a part of our lives for the last decade. From friends, office colleagues to family groups and our loved ones, WhatsApp has connected each of us for years. Developed by Brian Acton and Jan Koum in the year 2009, WhatsApp was later acquired by Facebook for 19 Billion US Dollars.
It all started with Apple’s privacy labels highlighting WhatsApp collecting extensive metadata from its 2 billion users. The management and developers must have understood the critical situation but then came the distasteful change of terms for the users. Although WhatsApp clarified it only will affect the business chats if a user communicates with a company’s service platform using WhatsApp but the backlash forced the company to put a hold on the update till May this year.
What data does WhatsApp actually collect?
WhatsApp has always promised that the chats are end-to-end encrypted which means only the reader and the sender will have the access to the chat which has always put the tech company on the target of the lawmakers.
However, there is much more to the data that WhatsApp collects from the user. It is true that being end-to-end encrypted makes WhatsApp safer but the kind of data of the users it stores is questionable.
WhatsApp may collect the following data from you:
- Purchases
- Location
- Contacts
- Identifiers
- Diagnostics
- Financial Info
- Contact Info
- User Content
- Usage Data
Is Telegram any better?
If you are thinking of downloading Telegram due to the ‘trend’ then stop for a moment. Your messages are not end-to-end encrypted on Telegram which technically means that your messages are stored on the Telegram Severs and backed up to its cloud. And Telegram has access to it.
But, Telegram provides an option of Secret Chat where the messages are end-to-end encrypted and thus are safer as these are not backed up on Telegram’s cloud. But this feature is not available on the Telegram Groups.
Data collected by Telegram:
- Name
- Contacts
- Phone Number
- User ID
Signal Messaging App
Developed by the Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger, Signal is a centralized encrypted messaging service. It was developed in the year 2014 by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton.
The signal could be the answer if you are concerned about security and privacy. Similar to WhatsApp, Signal also uses an encryption protocol. At the same time, Signal’s encryption is open for research for vulnerabilities by security researchers.
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However, there is a catch. Signal uses your phone number for registration. There are many who are not comfortable with sharing their private number. But, in near future, we can expect a changeable username instead of a phone number.
Data collected by Signal: The Signal only needs your number and that’s it!
Do we have a clear winner?
This was it, folks. Hope the article will help you to make a suitable decision. Let’s hope to see more innovative tech companies come up with their new products in the coming years.
