Guide: Best WhatsApp Alternatives That Prefers Privacy
WhatsApp is undoubtedly the most popular messaging service in the internet age, but since Facebook acquired the service, there have been numerous questions about privacy on the platform. Are you sure you want to continue? Chonlachai / Shutterstock.com While Whatsapp has introduced end-to-end text message encryption on their platform and two-step verification for users, those who still feel uncomfortable using the service have several alternatives. Privacy on the Internet is of paramount importance as you may be sharing more information than you think. Here we are going to talk about three alternatives to WhatsApp that can be downloaded for free on Android or iOS.
Signal
Endorsed by whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, Signal is a great messaging service if you’re looking for privacy in your conversations.
The app not only allows you to send text messages that are end-to-end encrypted, users can also make encrypted calls worldwide (free), create encrypted groups and send files as an attachment to your message. As with WhatsApp, you don’t need a login ID or password to sign up with Signal, your phone number is sufficient. It is the only messaging service that uses open source peer-reviewed cryptographic protocols, and because it is open-source, anyone can verify its security by viewing the code. Open Whisper Systems, the developers of the app, claim that their servers never access the user communications and do not store any data including the name, member list, or icon of your group chats. “Privacy is possible, Signal makes it easy,” is the slogan of the app in the Play Store. The app developers have deliberately included the word ‘thoughtcrime’ in the Play Store URL, a reference for those aware of the idea of an Orwellian future.
Wickr Me
Wickr is one of the most popular messaging services among activists, journalists and other professionals, offering end-to-end encryption for text messages, videos, images, and voice messages. Source You don’t even need an email address or your phone number – both are optional to make it easier for your friends to discover you – to sign up with the app, just enter your desired Wickr ID and password to launch the app. It includes multiple tools like shredder, which removes all deleted messages, pictures and other data from your device, making your deleted items unrecoverable; a timer, which will delete your message after the set time. The timer causes your messages to self-destruct, depending on the time you choose, which ranges from three seconds to six days – the message is erased from the recipient’s device. The app also has screenshot protection so no one can save screenshots of your self-destructing messages while they are available. The company removes all metadata such as geotags or other identifying information from your posts and attachments and the app works without ads.
The app does not save your contact list on its servers and lets you create group chats with up up to 10 members. Dropbox, Google Drive and other similar integrations are available in the app, so you can share media directly from your cloud storage. With their 4,096-bit RSA encryption – a very secure one – a user’s Wickr ID is anonymous to anyone outside of their network and even the app developers. None of the conversations on this platform can be tracked, intercepted or monitored. Wickr Inc., the developers of the app, claim that they cannot read messages sent through their app and that they do not collect or store your personal images, messages and attachments.
Telegram
Another WhatsApp alternative, which is also the best known of these three and has arguably the highest number of users on their platform of the three.
Telegram has a ‘secret chat’ tool, which, like Wickr, offers an option to enable self-destruct feature on messages, photos, videos, and files – they delete both from the receiving device and the user’s device. Secret chats are also not stored on Telegram’s servers. Everything in the app is encrypted with a combination of “256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption and Diffie-Hellman secure key exchange”. Like WhatsApp, a desktop client is also available for Telegram, which is just as easy to use. The service also claims that they do not allow third party access to user data, but they store some of it on their servers.
Honorable Mentions
The above apps in the list are not arranged in any particular order, and the two we are going to mention below were not included in the list because one of them is a paid app and another has in-app purchases – both make paid them alternatives to WhatsApp. But if you’re ready to spend some money and try them out for yourself, check out Threema and Confide in the app store, both of which claim high levels of encryption for your conversations. Let us know in the comments below what you think about chat privacy or if you know of other great messaging services that offer privacy like the ones listed here.
Best WhatsApp Alternatives That Prefers Privacy: benefits
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