Telegram and Signal are widely popular privacy -focused messaging apps . However, the two apps have a few big differences: While all messages sent via Signal are always end-to-end encrypted by default, Telegram messages are not. End-to-end encryption is an optional feature on Telegram.
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End-to-end encryption means that only the sender and recipient of a message can see its contents.
In Telegram, however, the company responsible for the app technically has the ability to view the content of messages on its servers. There is still some encryption in Telegram of course. Your internet service provider, your network operator, and any third parties spying on your online cannot see the contents of your communications.
However, if Telegram's servers were compromised at some point in the future, attackers would be able to see the content of users' Telegram conversations. However, if Signal's servers were compromised, attackers would not be able to see the conversations.
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If you send sensitive information via Telegram, or if you just want to ensure that your conversations are not being spied on, you should use end-to-end encryption.
Only “secret conversations” are encrypted on Telegram. To use Telegram’s end-to-end encryption, you need to start a secret conversation by tapping the person’s name, the “More” button or the menu and “Start secret conversation.”
Secret conversations appear separately from non-secret conversations in Telegram's chat list. For secret conversations, Telegram shows the person's name in green next to a green lock icon. If you're already chatting with someone, you'll see two separate conversations in your list.
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In a secret chat, you can also enable a self-destruct timer for messages, ensuring they will be deleted after a given amount of time.
