Because talking through Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp is not safe, we explain on our blog #BetterWeb how to chat securely. 📱
https://betterweb.qwant.com/what-messaging-services-should-i-use-to-protect-my-privacy/
@Qwant "Without [secret chat], messages are still encrypted but pass through Telegram’s servers." Well no! Encrypted means e2ee today. TLS between you and the server is not enough.
Also: no encrypted group chat and "secret chat" does not support multi-device usage.
Except for "not being Facebook" and the #FOSS client, it's arguably worse than #WhatsApp.
@hexmasteen @Qwant I totally agree. For some reason, Telegram has a reputation of an almost "guerrilla" messenger, while their actual security model is far from that. I recently wrote an article about it: https://ጮ.cc/2019/09/04/telegrams-promise-of-privacy.html
@setthemfree One day after you published your article, Telegram released an update that allows to hide your phone number and only communicate via Username/pseudonymous. That seems like big news privacy-wise (I didn't test it yet). You may want to update your article. https://telegram.org/blog#new-privacy-settings
@setthemfree There are rumors, that Signal plans something similar btw.
@hexmasteen When writing the article, this was already reported as being planned, and I mention this in a footnote. However, I don't think that it actually changes much as it is something most user won't probably know about. But I agree we should recommend enabling it to anyone using Telegram.
@Qwant I disagree with your recommendations as secure alternatives. Signal is ok but just another central service and therefore interim solution
#XMPP is the secure and private way to go for instant messaging