Telegram has surged in popularity in 2021 after WhatsApp announced changes to its privacy policy that would allow it to share information with parent company Meta, in fact, your messaging data may have been shared with Facebook for years if you were using Whatsapp.
Millions of users switched to telegram over the last year and that brings up the question.
How to make the most out of Telegram’s privacy features?
Use End to End encryption in Telegram:
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a method that secures message delivery and prevents third parties from accessing data while it’s transferred from one device to another.
Regular Telegram messaging doesn’t have E2EE activated by default, so the app has access to your metadata and can see the content of these chats. According to Telegram’s Privacy Policy, your data is not used for advertising purposes.
Activating E2EE can be done by using “Secret Chats”, by using these chats only you and the recipient have access to the messages and they disappear when you log out or delete the app. The web version of Telegram doesn’t support secret chat.
Useful Privacy Settings:
Along with end-to-end encryption, Telegram also allows its users to lock their chats.
Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Passcode Lock, and toggle it on.
Once the passcode lock feature is enabled, you can lock and unlock your chats by tapping on the lock icon on the top right of your Telegram app.
On Telegram, you may be added to group chats without your approval and that can be annoying, but the app gives you control over who can add you to groups so that no one can add you to a group without your permission. To enable this feature, open Settings > Privacy and Security > Groups > My Contacts > Never Allow.
Use these tips for additional privacy:
- Use a VPN to hide your IP address.
- Consider using another app — one better suited to secure and private communication, such as Signal. Unlike Telegram, they encrypt all chats by default and have a bunch of extra privacy options.
- Consider using a different phone number to sign in to Telegram. Make sure not to use a one-time number so that no one accesses your account.