Telegram is one of the most used messaging system. It has very rich features list compared to other competitors. Many times it is used in place of whatsapp because concerns on privacy and security. Let’s examine below some considerations and features of this messenger to be more protected when deciding to use it.
Features list with details
- E2E encryption but only on secret chats. Infact standard chats do not apply E2E by default. The default chats (belonging to the cloud) are normally encrypted when in transit from your device to the cloud servers (owned by the supplier). It’s very important to notice that this kind of chat can be read by Telegram while it manages the encryption itself. E2E is set up only for secret chat and voice calls. Thos types of communications are not stored on telegram servers but on the involved parties only.
- Protocol used for E2E is MTproto.
- Apps and database library are opensource.
- Different from Signal, because Signal operates E2E by default on all the communications
- Telegram privacy policy allows Telegram to collect personal informations, metadata, etc that can be provided to authorities in case of request. The data retention shown is 12 months. They say also that they can use data to improve the service
- Telegram requires phone number for registering. Phone number verification happens.
- Clients for Windows, Linux, Mac, android, ios.
- Supports multiple devices and clients to be logged simultanously.
- Servers are not open source.
- No audit activities have been performed on Telegram, while Signal instead has.
- For encryption reasons, better not to store secret and sensible informations on standard chats.
- Telegram cloud is built of several servers around the world.
- Business model not clear.
