Signal Has Better Privacy Features Than Telegram Apple Sued for Not Taking Down Telegram in App Store
According to a Jan. 16 update on SimilarWeb, Telegram ranked No. 1 in terms of downloads and Signal ranked No. 4. (Screenshot from the website)
The blocking of Trump by big technology companies has made many people worry that technology companies have become the “ruler” of freedom of speech and started to replace them with more secure and confidential instant messaging software, among which Telegram (Telegram) and Signal (Signal) are recommended by many people. The following is a collection of the advantages and disadvantages of these two software for reference.
Signal and Telegram both claim to be private and secure.
Signal is owned by a non-profit organization, while Telegram is owned by a for-profit company.
Signal and Telegram are both free chat applications with standard features such as sending photos, file transfers, voice and video calls. Both have desktop and mobile installation files that allow you to use their applications on your computer (Windows PC, Mac or Linux systems) and cell phone.
Lettergram has better privacy features than telegram
(1) Peer-to-peer encryption: Signal is a long time peer-to-peer encryption, while Telegram requires Secret Chats to be enabled to use peer-to-peer encryption. In other words, the Telegram application does not encrypt text messages peer-to-peer by default. The company responsible for Telegram can technically view your messages on its servers unless you enable the “Secret Chats” feature, which is not encrypted by default, and if the “Secret Chats” feature is not enabled, Telegram’s regular chats are not secure. Telegram’s regular chats are not secure.
In addition, you cannot have “secret chat” groups in Telegram. You can only get peer-to-peer encryption in conversations between two people. Unlike Telegram, Signal offers encrypted group chats, where each message is encrypted so that only the sender and receiver can read it, and no one else can intercept it, and Signal has other built-in features around privacy, including the ability to automatically blur faces in sent photos.
In addition, users can choose to have their emails disappear automatically by setting an interval for automatic deletion, thus protecting their privacy and preventing others from hacking into your phone.
(2) Encryption method: Signal uses a random encryption method, while Telegram uses a network key established by the developer for encryption, in other words, as long as the developer’s network key is obtained, the government or any organization can decrypt the messages. By and large, Signal is considered to be more secure. Its encryption protocol is open source and it does not belong to any commercial company.
(3) Server encryption: Signal uses open source encryption, which means that general information security agencies can look at it for any improprieties (e.g. interception of messages) and allow experts to test it and find errors. The code for the Telegram application is open source, but the Telegram server software is not.
(4) Behind the funding: Signal is behind a non-profit developer that relies on user donations; Telegram is behind VK, which is known as the Russian Facebook, and collects user information for advertising purposes as its main source of income.
(5) Although Signal is more privacy-oriented than Telegram, Telegram provides various convenient functions that Signal does not have. In Telegram, there can be up to 200,000 people in a group chat. In Signal, you can only have a maximum of 1,000 people. In Telegram, you can transfer files of up to 2GB. Telegram offers cloud messaging synchronization, so you can even log into Telegram on the Web and continue conversations, all of which are stored on Telegram’s servers (unless you start a “secret chat”). Unlike Signal, all conversations in Signal are stored locally on your device, so when you chat on your phone’s Signal, your computer’s Signal doesn’t have any records and can’t be synced. Helps protect privacy, less convenient.
At the beginning of 2021, many people started to change to more secure and private instant messaging software, among which Telegram (Telegram) and Signal (Letter) were recommended by many people. (App store screenshot)
But the latest news is that the Coalition for a safer web is suing Apple to remove Telegram from Apple’s app store, claiming it allows “extremists” to spread “hate speech.
According to Telegram founder Pavel Durov, Telegram gained 25 million new users in just 72 hours last week, bringing the total number of users to more than 500 million.
“In its lawsuit, the Safe Internet Coalition says Apple has failed to hold Telegram accountable for violating its terms of service. The lawsuit alleges that Telegram was “used as a tool to carry out terrorist activities, including the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Washington Post analysis says it is unclear whether the lawsuit will succeed. Under Section 230 of the Communications Regulatory Act, online platforms enjoy a high degree of immunity from liability for most of the content they publish. The decision to keep Telegram in the Apple Store is protected not only by the Communications Regulatory Act of 1996, but also by the Apple Store’s free speech rights.
According to TechCrunch, Telegram confirmed that it has removed dozens of channels in the past day, citing their concern that the accounts incited violence. Its spokesman Mike Ravdonikas told TechCrunch, “Our terms of service explicitly prohibit public calls to violence.”
In a separate report, TechCrunch also said the encrypted apps, Telegraph and Letters, have also seen slight user growth in China, where WeChat has been dominant and the government has taken a tightly controlled stance on online communications.
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