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Which messaging app?
- Does not collect data, only your phone number
- Free, no ads, funded by nonprofit Signal Foundation
- Fully open-source
Signal | Signal
Signal | Wikipedia
Telegram
- Data linked to you: Name, phone number, contacts, user ID
- Free, forthcoming Ad Platform and premium features, funded mainly by founder
- Only partially open-source
Telegram | Telegram
Telegram | Wikipedia
- Data linked to you: Too much to list (see below)
- Free; business versions available for free, funded by Facebook
- Not open-source, except for encryption
WhatsApp | WhatsApp
WhatsApp | Wikipedia
Other apps to consider
Discord | Discord
Discord | Wikipedia
Viber | Viber
Viber | Wikipedia
Snapchat | Snapchat
Snapchat | Wikipedia
KakaoTalk | KakaoTalk
KakaoTalk | Wikipedia
Keybase | Keybase
Keybase | Wikipedia
End-to-end encryption | October 2023
"One of the most controversial elements of the UK Safety Bill bill is a provision on combating child sexual abuse material (CSAM), which empowers Ofcom to order a messaging service to use “accredited technology” to look for and take down such content.
Privacy campaigners and tech firms have warned that the clause poses a fundamental threat to end-to-end encrypted messaging – where only the sender and recipient can read the message – because it could require the scanning of private messages.
In a bid to head off a threatened exodus, the government said in September that Ofcom would only be able to intervene if scanning content was “technically feasible” and if the process met minimum standards of privacy and accuracy. Some observers took this as a climbdown but the government has not changed the wording of the bill, so this still feels like a very live issue with the legislation."
How the UK’s online safety bill aims to clean up the internet | The Guardian | 24 Oct 2023
Signal vs. WhatsApp vs. Telegram: Major security differences between messaging apps | Cnet | 29 Jan 2021
Fleeing WhatsApp for Better Privacy? Don't Turn to Telegram | Wired | 27 Jan 2021
Is it time to leave WhatsApp – and is Signal the answer? | The Guardian | 24 Jan 2021
WhatsApp changes: Signal messaging platform restored after surge prompts outage | BBC News | 17 Jan 2021