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this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2026
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Privacy
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It's always gonna be a moving target. Wife and I started using Telegram because it wasn't monitored like Facebook Messenger (which I don't have an account for) or WhatsApp. Now people are saying Telegram isn't good enough, use Signal. It's still good enough for us. I also have Signal. No one I know uses it, but I have it in case they wanna start using it.
Honestly though, iMessage is secure enough for most people. Basically texting through Apple servers.
But any security or privacy expert will tell you that you need to determine your own threat model. No one else can tell you what that is.
telegram doesnt encrypt by default, its a hidden feature. i wouldnt be too sure about iMessage, i believe E2EE is a bare minimum for everyone.
Messages in iCloud are E2EE protected only if iCloud Backup is disabled or if iCloud Backup is enabled with Advanced Data Protection (ADP). Otherwise, Apple stores a copy of the encryption key, allowing Apple (or authorities with a court order) to access your messages.
Probably obvious, but messages sent over SMS (green bubbles) are not E2EE.
Telegram uses a proprietary encryption protocol called MTProto, so who knows if it can be trusted.
That is an interesting statement regarding the fact its centralized and deletes accounts / channel all the time.
Telegram is a social network masquerading as a messaging app, not a "secure messaging" app.
Just because you made one mistake doesn't mean "It's always gonna be a moving target".
What's the one mistake? Telegram? Or Signal?
The way I see it, the goalposts keep moving because Telegram was the private alternative to FB Messenger and WhatsApp. Then Signal was the private alternative to those, and Telegram. Now people are saying Signal is a problem (I'm guessing because of the cock up the US government had last year?). The goalposts keep moving, but Telegram is still fine for what I need. I keep both as alternatives to texting for people who want to reach me however they're comfortable doing. I also have one called Session. I don't use Twitter/X, Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp, or Reddit. I have a Discord because I have a couple things that are only available up there, but it's not a good way to reach me as I have notifications disabled on it.
Telegram never was the private alternative to anything, unless you took their advertisement at face value. It was always known to not use e2ee by default.
Signal is not a problem, the US gov things were very dumb users issues. It was not caused by Signal itself.
So the goalpost has not moved in years, Signal was and is still good, Telegram is only fine if you do not care about privacy.