It's hard to imagine modern life without instant messengers. Almost everyone uses them for personal correspondence and sits in group chats. However, how seriously do the messengers with which you communicate take your private data? The analytical department of Falcongaze reviewed the privacy policies of popular messengers and chose the safest option.
Despite the fact that most social applications carefully monitor attempts to steal user personal data, this still happens sometimes and, moreover, on an especially large scale. And, unfortunately, the latest news of information technology is not encouraging. Thus, many popular instant messengers admitted that they have access to the content of their users' personal messages. At the same time, they name various reasons for this situation, ranging from the need to fight prohibited content and ending with public safety. And yet, in spite of everything, the main reason is, of course, commercial interest. This is evidenced not only by statistics. User reviews also signal that messengers are simply selling their customers' personal data.
We live in the world of information technology, where it is impossible to do without the Internet. And this is a fact that is difficult to disagree with. That is why the issue of personal data protection comes first. All users of gadgets are keenly interested in the issue of security in the online space. Today we are talking about which messengers are the safest and which ones will help protect personal correspondence from publicity. How to choose the safest messenger Tell me honestly, how would you react to the fact that your personal correspondence would become the property of the general public? It is unlikely that you liked it. It is so? And even if we are talking about ordinary correspondence, which does not contain any criminal nuances. In any case, this is extremely unpleasant, so today we will discuss which messengers have a high level of reliability, have encryption and will help keep communication secret.
Telegram
Pavel Durov's project is steadily expanding the user pool. They are trying to introduce their own cryptocurrency, then they are launching voice rooms in group chats. Recently they made their own local clubhouse, describing it as a radio reinvented in the 21st century. And in the spring they promise to reinvent television.
Telegram claims that it collects only the user data that is needed for the service to work. Of course, features like Telegram Passport will add their own requirements to this necessary minimum. But nobody forces you to use them.
Correspondences are stored encrypted using the MTProto protocol. In addition, they themselves and the encryption keys are stored on different servers. And even if an attacker can steal data with your correspondence from the server, he will not be able to decrypt them - because the keys to them may be located in another country altogether. And secret chats do not linger on Telegram servers at all.
Telegram can issue your phone number and IP address to law enforcement agencies only if the user is suspected of terrorism and there will be an appropriate order for this. This has not happened yet.
Signal
Little is said about this messenger. From the known: its own encryption protocol, which is also used by other major messengers. And Edward Snowden, who said he actively uses it. Signal only requires a phone number from the data processed.
As for the security of correspondence, everything is extremely simple: data is stored on users' devices. The only moment when your message is in the cloud of the messenger is when its addressee is offline. It patiently waits for the recipient to reappear on the network, after which it will appear on his device and disappear from the Signal server without a trace.
Have we already talked about a custom encryption algorithm? It uses a combination of private and public encryption keys. And as a bonus, there are constantly updated temporary keys.
The only thing that can pose a threat to your private data: when registering, the verification code will not be sent to you by Signal itself, but by a third-party organization. It is subject to Signal's own security and privacy policies. But even such a leak can be quite unpleasant (hello, Sberbank security service).
Whatsapp
The initially independent project, which was sold to Facebook, has been repeatedly accused of data security and privacy issues. Now he is also going to give all the information for processing to Facebook itself, which influenced the attitude towards the service. However, it is still a fairly popular messenger.
It collects phone number, contact data and data received through support. Logs, transaction data and cookies are collected automatically.
Information can be transmitted within the messenger, and related third parties. Moreover, in some cases, third-party companies are subject to security and privacy policies. But sometimes they process the received data in accordance with their policies.
But there is also a nice moment: the messenger uses the same Signal encryption protocol. And messages disappear from servers after delivery to the addressee.
Viber
On a pleasant note: it also uses the Signal encryption protocol, and protects group chats with SSL encryption. Messages are in the cloud only while they are waiting for the addressee.
Bad news: end-to-end encryption does not protect messages in chatbots and add-ons.
Viber collects account data: name, phone number, email address and billing information. As well as information about social networks, user actions, devices used and their location. The company also uses third-party sources.
Information can be disseminated within and outside the corporate group. But Viber promises to do everything possible to keep data confidential even when transferred to third parties.
I want the safest messenger. What should I choose?
It would be best to choose a messenger that requires a minimum of data and is very concerned about their privacy. Signal clearly wins out of the usual. But there are some decent decentralized options like Dust. Such services have their own chips that make messengers safer, but you have to sacrifice convenience. So the choice is yours.
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