Telegram is a popular messaging app that has over 200 million monthly users. It’s also known as the “new WhatsApp,” and offers a ton of features that WhatsApp doesn’t have. But with tons of people using Telegram, it can be hard to tell if it’s safe to use. In addition to government tracking, there are also some security concerns with using Telegram. The good news is that Telegram does have a few built-in protections from its own encryption system. With this in mind, here are some ways you can use Telegram without compromising your safety and security.
What is Telegram?
Telegram is an encrypted messaging application similar to WhatsApp. The app can be used on PCs, phones, and tablets. Telegram has two types of encryption: Open Whisper Systems (OWS) and MTProto.
Is Telegram Safe to Use?
Yes, Telegram is safe to use. Telegram is a popular messaging app that has over 200 million monthly users. With tons of people using Telegram, it can be hard to tell if it’s safe to use. In addition to government tracking, there are also some security concerns with using Telegram. The good news is that Telegram does have a few built-in protections from its own encryption system. With this in mind, here are some ways you can use Telegram without compromising your safety and security.
Features of Telegram
Telegram is a free messaging app that offers some features that other messaging apps may not acquire. For example:
- Of course, it has end-to-end encryption, which protects your privacy from spying and government tracking.
- It also has a Secret Chat feature that allows you to share information privately with people in your group. But there are other features of Telegram worth mentioning.
- You can use the self-destruct timer on messages and chats to ensure they’re deleted automatically when the time is up.
- If someone hacks or gets your password, Telegram has an easy recovery process to get back into your account. In addition to these features, Telegram also has a built-in privacy mode so you can stay anonymous on the app.
All in all, Telegram offers tons of different features that make it enticing for people to use it as their go-to messaging app. But before signing up for an account, always make sure to check out reviews like this one from The Verge: “With hundreds of millions of users worldwide, Telegram has become one of the most popular messaging apps.”
How to be Safe When Using Telegram
Telegram does have a few built-in protections from its own encryption system. With this in mind, here are some ways you can use Telegram without compromising your safety and security.
- Make sure to download Telegram for both mobile and desktop devices. If you only have one device, make sure it’s secure by using the two-factor authentication feature on your account. This makes it harder for hackers to get into your account.
- Don’t share your phone number with anyone who isn’t using the same app as you are when creating an account or sending messages. If they still want to send you a message, they can text or call you instead of using your phone number directly in their message.
- Select a strong password that is unique to each device and keep it secure, even if you lose your device or delete everything off of it before selling it on eBay or Craigslist (don’t do this!). Your password should also be long enough that people won’t be able to guess what’s going on with just seeing letters and numbers—a minimum of 8 characters should do the trick.
- On desktop devices, select “Private Mode” at the bottom of the settings page so that no one but you can see any messages you send through telegram unless they have the same settings enabled and signed in as well (if someone else is viewing those messages in private mode, then they might know something about your password).
Safety Concerns on Telegram
Telegram has a lot of features, and they are often used by different people in different ways. In order to make sure everything is secure, there are some safety concerns you should know about when using this app.
Most chats on Telegram are securely encrypted while in transit between your devices and the servers. Once chat messages arrive at the Telegram servers, they are then encrypted using MTProto for storage. However, since “Telegram handles encryption/decryption of messages at their server,” people should be more concerned about services like Signal which applies E2E encryption by default to all communications.
Also, It is wise to use Secret Chats and voice calls whenever you want to share private information on Telegram. This company has the ability to read any of your messages from the Cloud Chat – they may share some of your personal data with other Telegram users, companies within a Group chat you chose, or even with law enforcement if forced by court order.