Over lots of free messaging apps Telegram Messenger App has its separate level in messaging apps. Telegram is totally free with almost 200 million active users monthly. Telegram messenger was created by brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov in 2013. The app is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. The company has it headquarter in London.
Telegram as hybrid system for storing user’s data. By default, user’s data is stored in their devices. However, user can remove the data manually from local cache.
The privacy end-to-end encryption is does not set by default. Chat messages on the telegram app are encrypted using MTProto while the chats rest on the servers. Telegram can read the chat data of the users since it handles the encryption of messages at the servers. Other messaging apps have end-to-end privacy services.
Telegram does not support end-to-end encryption. The end-to-end encryption is only provided to secret chats and voice calls which are not stored in the telegram servers. This secret chats are only accessible to the device which is involved in the chat.
What is MTProto security
MTProto is the custom protocol designed by the Telegram team only. According to the Telegram they can collect a amount of personal information, which only keep it for uo to 12 months on their servers. According to Telegram’s privacy policy they collect the data such as users IP address, device and history of changes in username etc.
The company has all access to read your cloud chat messages to investigate about the spam users. They may share some personal information with other telegram users you choose to communicate and companies within the Telegram group.
Using a VPN with Telegram
As noted Telegram notes your IP address and keep it for 12 months.
To hide your IP address while using telegram, user can use a VPN. VPN hides your IP address and location. Point to be noted is VPN is not a silver bullet which hides all your data. It securely encrypt traffic between your device and VPN server.
Tips and trick to use Telegram Messenger App:
1.Enable secret chats:
Chats on telegram are user-to-server encrypted, this type if encryption is not so protected like WhatsApp or Signal. However there is a option called as Secret chat on telegram which has end-to-end encryption of chats, this encryption is fully protected. Secret chats are made to be temporary and they do not get saved on Telegram’s servers.
When the secret chat option is enabled user also have chance to self-destruct your chats by setting a timer from one second to one week. After the timer the chats get disappear. User can make their secret chats as short-lived as the user need to be.
In secret chats forwarding messages and screen shots and screen recording are blocked by the telegram. Also the secret chats is only permits to one-to-one conversations, telegram does not have any group chats in secret chats option.
To start a secret chat select a contact with whom you wanted to secret chat and open the chat box. Tap on the bar of user information> Tap on the three button drop down menu on the to right corner> Select start secret chat option. A pop up notification will ask you to confirm if you want to secret chat. Tap start, this will invite your contact to join the secret chat.
2.You can stop being added to any group:
Telegram will give you total control on who can add you to the groups, with this option no one can add you to any group without your permission. To enable this feature, open settings>privacy and security >groups>my contacts>never allow.
3. Broadcast any messages using a channel:
Any user can broadcast any kind of public messages to large groups of people using channels. Channels don’t have any limit on the number of people who can be added. The messages that are sent in the channel goes on the channel name. You can pin important messages inside a channel. You can pin a message by just tap on it and tap on pin option. This will make sure that the messages that are pined stays on the top of the channel before the reader removes it.
4. You can even delete messages by the sender too:
In telegram there is a unique feature that we can even delete the messages that are sent by the sender too. To delete a received message select the concerned message from the sender >tap on the delete button>Also delete for User name > tap on delete. This option even delete the message from the sender’s device too.
5. You can lock your chats in Telegram:
Along with the privacy of end-to-end encryption Telegram also provides its users to lock their chats. To enable this option of passcode lock feature on your account, go to settings>privacy and security> passcode lock, and on it. Once the lock feature is enabled you can manually lock and unlock your chats just by tapping on the lock icon which is present on the top right in your Telegram app.
Telegram pros and cons:
Telegram Messenger App – Positives
- End-to-end encryption is provided.
- MTProto encryption a custom protocol.
- Self-destructing messages are provided.
- User can log in to multiple devices at a same time.
- Supports two-step verification.
Telegram Messenger App – Negatives
- Phone number is required for the registration.
- End-to-end encryption is provided only for secret chats.
- Has not shared any Transparency reports.
- Servers are not an open source.
