Thinking of a life without being communicated through Whatsapp or Telegram messages seems practically impossible.
However, it may not always be taken into account that these applications are not as safe as we think.
Data leaks continue to increase and for this reason it is essential to start protecting content and personal information, and to know
the pros and cons
of the different
messaging applications
.
In this framework, it is important to know that there is an alternative to
WhatsApp or Telegram
.
This is the
Signal app
, which, although it is not as popular, is always mentioned by cybersecurity experts when referring to privacy in messaging.
WhatsApp is the most used messaging app but not the most secure.
Photo: Reuters
Before beginning with the analysis of the functionalities and security measures of each one, it is important to know the
details of each application
:
.
Current leader in messaging, it was bought in 2014 by
.
Since then, the application has been growing in features such as channels and group chats, video calls, end-to-end encryption, and recently, a payment system.
In other words, it is
the most used application
, with extensive functionalities and which belongs to one of the largest business conglomerates on the Internet.
.
Telegram
It became
one of the top 5 most downloaded apps worldwide in 2022
and now has more than 700 million monthly active users.
They are currently rolling out a premium tier with additional features and at the same time looking to monetize a portion of their large user base.
It belongs to a self-funded, non-profit organization and is currently based in Dubai.
.
signal
Unlike the previous ones, it is an open source application, whose libraries and protocols are published on GitHub (a free online repository that allows you to manage projects and control code versions).
This makes the implementation of the app and its
security protocols
easily verifiable by the entire community.
Although Signal began to gain relevance in 2015 after Edward Snowden (Worldwide surveillance network whistleblower) praised its privacy and security at a conference, it currently has more than 10 million users and exponential growth thanks to
recommendations from various experts
and well-
known figures such as Elon Musk
, the CEO of Tesla Motors.
What information do Whatsapp, Telegram and Signal collect?
. WhatsApp:
Mobile phone
number
Contact numbers, (both those used by the application and those not)
Profile name, photo and status message
Email
Approximate location (via IP code and phone number).
GPS location
Device and connection information, model, operating system, browser, language, time zone, IP address and mobile network information (signal strength and provider)
Activity: how and when the service is used (including when interacting with a business) and the time, frequency and interaction on activities.
Log file, diagnostic, error, and performance reports.
. Telegram:
Mobile phone
number
Profile name, photo and description
Email (to use two-step verification and account recovery)
Numbers of the user's contacts (those who use Telegram and those who do not)
GPS location
. signal:
Mobile phone number
Signal is the messaging app that best guarantees the privacy of information.
Photo: Shutterstock
Neither WhatsApp nor Telegram: why is Signal the most secure?
ESET, the company specialized in cybersecurity, reviewed both the functionalities of each application and the practices for the user -group calls, use of emojis-, which are quite similar in the different messaging apps.
It also analyzed the relevant aspects of privacy and protection of the security of messages and data sent.
This is the conclusion they reached: “Each application has advantages and disadvantages.
has extensive communication features and is the most widely used, so it is probably
more practical for daily communications
or with those contacts who do not use another application.
However, by using
it, data and information are being transferred
that are used by the Facebook conglomerate.
"
Telegram would be somewhere in between Signal and WhatsApp
, with a growing number of users and increasingly popular. Although it belongs to a private company, it
collects much less information
and has the same (or even more) features than WhatsApp ", they explain from ESET.
However, they clarify that if you decide to use it, it is important
to resort to secret chats for private communications
.
Finally, he maintained that "
Signal
is clearly the application that has the
best security
features, in addition to guaranteeing the privacy of information. However, it is still an application that is not widely used and many of the contacts may not be using it."
For his part, the computer specialist,
Julio López,
explained to
Clarín
that the difference between WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram is that
Telegram stores all messages in its cloud
.
While
WhatsApp and Signal
, the message travels between computers, and
when you delete it, they no longer exist
.
Therefore, if a person's Telegram is accessed, it will be possible to find all their information, unless we tell them to automatically delete these in a kind of ephemeral messages."
"In security,
Signal has a better privacy scheme
since it doesn't collect the amount of user data that WhatsApp does," López concluded.
LN
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