Recently, World Of Buzz reported on why many WhatsApp users are unhappy with its new privacy policy and are now moving on to other alternative applications. Believe it or not, it is true!
Many of WhatsApps ‘loyal’ users are now venturing into other messaging applications, namely Signal and Telegram.
On 14 January, Telegram even sent out a ‘Thank You’ notification on the platform to its users.
In the notification sent out, Telegram tells its users that they have reached over 500 million active users around the globe. Within 72 hours alone, the application received over 25 million new users.
According to Business Insider, Signal saw a 4200% increase in user downloads after WhatsApp announced its new privacy policy. Signal too made a post on Twitter mentioning the swell of new users signing up for the platform.
Since we have already explained everything you needed to know about WhatsApp in the last article, let’s get right into why Signal and Telegram could be better alternatives when it comes to our privacy.
WhatsApp vs. Signal
There are two things that Signal and WhatsApp have in common. Firstly, they both use end-to-end encryption. The end-to-end encryption hides messages in case someone intercepted the chat or found them on a server. Besides that, their users are able to chat for free via Wi-Fi networks or cellular data.
Everything else, in terms of ownership, views on security, and ease of use are completely different.
As explained by Business Insider, Signal is owned by a relatively new non-profit, Signal Foundation, that prioritises heavily on security. Acton and Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike co-founded Signal Foundation in February 2018.
Whereas, WhatsApp is owned by Facebook and allows users data to be shared to Facebook as well.
If you didn’t already know, Facebook has faced data breaches for years. According to the Telegraph, Facebook faced a major hack back in 2018 that impacted over 50 million accounts. Making matters worse, Facebook employees knew about flaws in the platform’s security of user accounts as early as December 2017.
This leaves most WhatsApp users feeling insecure when they found out that their data will be shared with Facebook, a site that still has not fully shown all of its users necessary improvements on this matter.
Signal is by far much safer as it does not obtain user messages, groups, contacts, or profile information. They only retrieve two types of data which are how long users have had Signal installed and the last date it was installed. That’s pretty much it!
Telegram vs. Signal
Telegram on the other hand is very similar to Signal. According to How To Geek, the two applications advertise themselves as private and secure and neither of it is owned by a big tech company.
Both Telegram and Signal have standard features like stickers, photos and file transfers to voice and video calls.
However, Signal is deemed slightly better compared to Telegram in terms of their privacy features.
This is because Telegram offers optional end-to-end encryption. In order to keep chats private and as safe as possible, one has to start a ‘Secret Chat.’ Whereas with the Signal application, all chats are a secret chat.
As explained in an article by How To Geek, Telegram messages are encrypted between you and the Telegram server, but the company in charge of Telegram could technically view your messages on its server if they ever wanted to, unless you start a “Secret Chat.”
Another downside to Telegram in comparison to Signal is you can’t have a group “Secret Chat.” But, Signal offers encrypted group chats.
The Conclusion: Preferences and Priorities
Nevertheless, Signal and Telegram are much better messaging applications compared to WhatsApp. So, if you’re wondering, Signal or Telegram, it honestly comes down to your preferences and priorities.
For example, if you want group conversations to be private and end-to-end encrypted, then Signal would be a better choice. But if you can’t really be bothered with private group chats and your sole focus is on private chats between you and a friend, then Telegram could be a better option.
As I said, it all comes down to your priorities and preference. BUT if you’re absolutely not bothered with data and privacy policies, then hey, why bother leaving WhatsApp at all?
Let us know what you would choose in the comment section below!
