Signal/Telegram may be the only app you should be looking to in case you need to ensure your messages remain between you and your friends/family/trusted contacts.

WhatsApp has been confronting a part of heat since it rolled out the latest Privacy Policy updates. The Facebook-owned company has been backlashed by a few users over security concerns, and individuals are trying to find Whatsapp alternatives. Are Signal and Telegram good enough to supplant WhatsApp? We discover out. Here’s an in-depth comparison between the three most well known messaging apps.

WhatsApp upgraded its Security policy which permits other Facebook-owned companies to get to WhatsApp user data.

While Facebook has continuously been doubted with misusing user information, the new Whatsapp security policies throw a lot of questions over its security and data protection. Whereas WhatsApp alternative apps are being favored for way better security, are they sufficient enough to meet your daily social messaging app? 

Both Telegram and the all-new Signal (endorsed by the world’s wealthiest man, Elon Musk) are being considered the best Whatsapp alternatives given the security features offered.

WhatsApp vs Signal vs Telegram: Things You Should  know

WhatsApp is as of now the biggest messaging service in the world with over 2 billion monthly active users. Telegram has around 400 million users, whereas Signal has around 20 million monthly active users.

Whereas WhatsApp stands undefeated given the number of users, we can’t let away from the growing popularity of Telegram and Signal. 
 The WhatsApp security policy update is helping the other two gain more users over the app’s security and privacy.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp has almost everything a user needs on a social messaging service including the new in-app payments feature. Group chats work with up to 256 members. You can broadcast messages to multiple contacts, support voice and video calls, both for individuals and groups.

• Group video calls (8 users at any time)
  
• WhatsApp Status feature (also called WhatsApp stories)
  
• Whatsapp allows you to share all sorts of files and documents (up to 100MB)
  
• Photos, videos, and audio files can be shared up to 16 MB
  
• You can share live location with your contacts 
  
• Backup and restore messages and data via cloud services like Google Drive and iCloud
  
• WhatsApp uses end to end encryption (E2E) for communication: messages, video calls, voice calls, photos, and anything
  
• WhatsApp uses E2E protocol developed by Open Whisper Systems, same as Signal 
  

Telegram

Telegram offers support to groups with up to 200,000 members. Known for its large and massive groups, Telegram offers multiple group-specific features such as bots, polls, quizzes, and hashtags, extensive for large group experiences.

• Self-destructing messages, where the message will get deleted after a point of time
  
• The size limit for sharing files on Telegram is 1.5 GB
  
• Supports voice and video call on Android and iOS devices
  
• Telegram supports E2E only secret chats feature
  
• The company confirmed it shares 0 bytes of data with third-parties or any governments to date
  

Signal
The latest application, Signal offers secure messaging, voice, and video calls with end-to-end encryption. You can create groups, but can’t broadcast messages to multiple contacts at once. Signal also has added support for group calling.

• Supports self-destructing messages
  
• Note to Self to share your own thoughts and ideas without creating single-member groups
  
• Signal allows relay voice calls to its servers, identity is not shared, the same as using a VPN
  
• Signal uses a back-end user-facing encryption service
  
• It uses the open-source Signal Protocol to implement end-to-end encryption
  
• Signal also encrypts your metadata offering multiple levels of security
  

WhatsApp vs Signal vs Telegram: Privacy Permissions, Which One is More Secure?

WhatsApp does not encrypt backups (cloud or local). Whatsapp too does not encrypt metadata unlike Signal, which is used to carry communication between two endpoints. WhatsApp group chats have been earlier found to be indexed on Google search, major data breach point.

Telegram group chats are not encrypted unless you use Secret Chats, which again only supports single-user communication.

In terms of user security, Signal offers the foremost secured frame of communication you'll get on the web. But again, Signal lacks a lot of features if compared to Whatsapp and Telegram. Signal by default encrypts all the local files with a 4-digit passphrase. It also supports encrypted group calls. 

Here’s a list of data each of the messaging apps collects from their users:

WhatsApp Data Collection

• Device ID
  
• User ID
  
• Advertising Data
  
• Purchase History
  
• Coarse Location
  
• Phone Number
  
• Email Address
  
• Contacts
  
• Product Interaction
  
• Crash Data
  
• Performance Data
  
• Other Diagnostic Data
  
• Payment Info
  
• Customer Support
  
• Product Interaction
  
• Other User Content
  

Telegram Data Collection

• Contact Info
  
• Contacts
  
• User ID
  

Signal Data Collection

• None
  
• It only stores your phone number