The CEO of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, has recently criticized Telegram over its security practices. He said that the lack of end-to-end encryption makes it a vulnerable platform to share private information. In a series of tweets, he mentioned; “Telegram is not end-to-end encrypted by default and offers no e2ee for groups.”
Telegram is not end-to-end encrypted by default and offers no e2ee for groups. From the article: “Telegram has the capacity to share nearly any confidential information a government requests”
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) February 10, 2023
Telegram’s Lack of End-to-end Encryption Makes it Unsafe
Will mentioned that there are many instant messaging apps other than WhatsApp that are offering end-to-end encryption; hence providing a safe space for users to share their private information. He mentioned; “I recognise that some will say I’m self-interested in critiquing Telegram. But there are many other great end-to-end encrypted messaging apps people can choose from. If you aren’t going to use WhatsApp, use one of them – don’t use Telegram.”
Of course, I recognize that some will say I’m self-interested in critiquing Telegram. But there are many other great end-to-end encrypted messaging apps people can choose from. If you aren’t going to use WhatsApp, use one of them – don’t use Telegram.
— Will Cathcart (@wcathcart) February 10, 2023
The article referenced by Will explains how at several instances Russian authorities seemingly having access to secret Telegram chats as it’s location API may have given away users’ locations down to around a radius of 3km/2mi. The chief of WhatsApp quoted the issue in a tweet saying; “Telegram’s privacy policy still claims they have never handed over user data to governments, but news reports suggest otherwise. So why do they keep claiming this?”
Telegram Founder Calls WhatsApp a ‘Surveillance Tool’
Back in October, Telegram founder Pavel Durov has often criticised WhatsApp by calling it a surveillance tool and urged users to stay away from it. Durov claimed that hackers could have full access to everything on the phones of WhatsApp users. “Every year we learn about some issue in WhatsApp that puts everything on their users’ devices at risk… It doesn’t matter if you are the richest person on Earth – if you have WhatsApp installed on your phone, all your data from every app on your device is accessible,” he said in a message
Also read: Telegram Premium Surpasses 1 Million Subscribers
