It all started a little over a year ago. Until then, WhatsApp was the ubiquitous messaging app.while Telegram and Signal were services with a much less extensive and more specialized community.
However, the launch of WhatsApp’s new privacy policies reconfigured the global scheme of messaging services. WhatsApp vs Signal vs Telegram began to be a debate that more and more users have been approaching.
Although in this confrontation there are many angles from which to carry out the analysis, There is no doubt that security is one of the fundamental aspects. For this reason, we undertook the task of evaluating this component of the three services to present them to you.
WhatsApp and Telegram, okay; but what is Signal?
If right now you realize that you know aya, but you have no idea what it is, it’s not something to feel bad about. After all, just a year ago, Signal was an app with “only” 10 million users on a global scale.
But, as often happens, this service, launched by one of the WhatsApp co-founders, remained operational, strengthening and waiting for the opportunity which, ultimately, reached him at the end of 2021.
What is Signal? It is an instant messaging service, with features similar to the rest of the much better known WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, etc. It operates both on mobile devices (Android, iPhone and iPad) and on PCs (Windows, Linux and Mac).
Basically, offers individual and group chats, with the possibility of voice messages and audio and video calls. It allows you to send SMS and MMS messages, although not with the same protection; and it is obtained free of charge in the different application stores.
Be free to download It is not its main attraction, but its orientation to security. Its developers have dedicated their main efforts to this aspect, to the point that Signal barely comes close to highly popular visual resources, such as emojis, GIFs, etc.
From a focus on security came the Open Whispers System, the end-to-end encryption system that was later incorporated by (who else?) WhatsApp. Chance? I don’t think so.
Signal vs. Telegram vs. WhatsApp
When we enter into this type of analysis, It is always good to remember that these are very effective services; which, although they have notable differences, have as a common denominator that, most of the time, they meet the expectations of their customers.
Instead of going into “particular confrontations”, such as Telegram vs. Signal and Signal vs. WhatsApp, I focus on the most relevant points of view for a complete analysis:
Coding system
This is a complex issue, so Whether you like it or not, it leads you to border the area of speculation. And it is that when a computer product is proprietary software or closed code, such as WhatsApp, no one outside it can affirm that it is a secure service beyond any doubt.
By not showing the world its programming source codes, WhatsApp forces you to trust that it takes care of your privacy. No service in the world can verify that what WhatsApp says is true. And if we add to that the issue of its new conditions, you may feel that your privacy is no longer so “private”.
Telegram and Signal, meanwhile, are both open source. It means that your source codes are available on the Internet to be verified by anyone with the knowledge, skills and tools necessary for it.
This is not to say exactly that neither Telegram nor Signal have “back doors”, but it does mean that, if these exist, the respective companies could not hide them from the general publicat least not permanently.
Point for Signal and Telegram.
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message encryption
Both WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal use end-to-end encryption, guaranteeing, they say, that your messages and calls are only seen by you and your interlocutor. However, it is a reality with nuances.
While keep your messages, Signal doesn’t, but you pass that responsibility on to yourself. So this last service strives to be a link between contacts, but renounces being a repository of information.
WhatsApp keeps everything on its servers, which, it says, are “invulnerable” even to themselves. Telegram uses the cloud, also with anti-hacker measures and with the added value that what is deleted is not lost.
Signal provides that all information is stored on users’ devices. In this way, the communications are not hosted on any other support and the interested party is the guarantor that their data and conversations do not take undue destinations.
Point for Signal.
Additional Measures
Each of these apps has gone including during its development other features that complement security. In this aspect, Signal once again stands out against Telegram and WhatsApp.
Signal uses the phone number to create your profile (like WhatsApp and unlike Telegram), which forces whoever communicates with you to know this information in advance. In addition, Signal sets the number of users in their groups to a thousand, without “tricks” to extend it (as happens in WhatsApp).
Where Signal outperforms its competitors is in the chat options, because incorporates the use of the PIN and the possibility of distorting the faces of the photos that are sent, just in case someone happens to transfer it from this platform to other much more public ones.
Point for Signal.
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Finally, does Signal win?
If the analysis If it were as simple as defining between black and white, I would say that Signal is the app to use. But, neither in matters of technology, nor in life in a general sense, partial evaluations can be made, without taking into account all the elements.
Signal is extremely safe in its benefits. That’s what its developers have worked for. But the difference compared to Telegram and WhatsApp is not so huge as to give up the reach (very superior) that these two offer you.
For whatever reason, Signal has 50 million users, which They seem small compared to the 700 million Telegram or the 2 billion WhatsApp. Even if you don’t want it, the question of reach comes to life, even when it comes to security.
Therefore, the question WhatsApp vs Signal vs Telegram must be resolved comprehensively. With security as the flag, but without forgetting the other (many) advantages that these three services offer. Perhaps using all three is the answer to all questions.
Frequent questions
As usual, I add the answers to the questions most frequently asked by users of the network of networks:
Why Signal is better than WhatsApp?
Signal has some features that can be considered better than WhatsApp, in terms of security and privacy policy. However, as I tell you in this article, these are not the only variables to appreciate how better or worse an app is.
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