Chat Alternative

WECHAT FOR ANDROID(chat alternative)
WECHAT FOR IPHONE
Signal
Top secret about your conversations

Again, an application that allows us to program the 'expiration' of our messages. The messages self-destruct if we want to, and we are protected by its end-to-end encryption system . Among its peculiarities is that it is an open source application, or that it is the instant messaging application recommended by Edward Snowden, who leaked the espionage practices of the United States National Security Agency.

Basically it is identical to WhatsApp, although with a different interface. And in the protection, security or privacy measures, it does not differ with respect to what Telegram offers us. In addition, the truth is that it lags somewhat behind Confide, which we will address below, and that it offers an additional layer of protection over our messages to prevent anyone from reading them if we do not want to.

SIGNAL FOR ANDROID
SIGNAL FOR IPHONE
Confide

Confide is the only one of all these instant messaging apps that hides messages even on the screen. We have to click on them to be able to read them, because otherwise only gray 'bars' will be seen. It also has end-to-end encryption, and has the same self-destructing message system. Although our data passes through their servers, it is automatically erased when it is read and, furthermore, it cannot be revealed by end-to-end encryption.

Basically, again, a basic instant messaging application that allows us to share files, create group conversations and send multimedia content to any of our contacts. It does not have an extraordinary number of users, but if we seek maximum privacy it is likely that this application is the option we should choose from among all those that we have reviewed in this article.

CONFIDE FOR ANDROID
CONFIDE FOR IPHONE

Why you should consider stopping using WhatsApp

Despite the fact that WhatsApp is one of the most used messaging applications in much of the world, the truth is that it has always been noted when it comes to security. Considering that Facebook is the owner of WhatsApp, it is not something that can surprise us either. It is true that with the passage of time and with the appearance of other messaging apps that could compete, those of Mark Zuckerberg have been improving the app, however, we are going to mention some of the weak points of the app that could be reasons more than enough to stop using it.

How Facebook uses our data
As we have just indicated, Facebook is the owner of WhatsApp, therefore, if we take into account the habit of monetizing user data by the social network, it is already an important aspect to take into account at the time to use the app. Our data can be used to show us ads, but it is also known by everyone of the cases in which Mark Zuckerberg's have been related and that have to do with data leaks.

Information to which you have access
For more than 4 years, WhatsApp messages have been end-to-end encrypted, which guarantees that only the sender and receiver of them can read the messages. That is, no one who manages to intercept the messages will be able to read them or spy on our conversations.

However, there is some information that Facebook does not encrypt and that it has full access to. Information such as the time we send the messages, to whom we send them, location, data from our mobile such as IMEI, what applications we have installed, what is our operator, etc. Information that a priori we might not mind sharing with Facebook but that can give a lot of information about us.

Security flaws and the target of cybercriminals

In the life of WhatsApp we have seen how different security flaws have been detected on numerous occasions, some of them quite serious. Among the most talked about is one that allowed hacking a mobile simply by receiving a call through WhatsApp, another that allowed remote code to be executed through a GIF or the one that did so through a video file in instead of an animated image.

Vulnerability or security flaws that give food for thought, especially to those who are most concerned about the security and privacy of their data and who are not common in other tools or alternative applications to WhatsApp such as Telegram or Signal.

Functions and features

There are few details that WhatsApp offers us and that we do not find in some of the other reference messaging applications such as Telegram itself (such as video calls), however, if we find certain functions in Telegram or Signal, among others, that are not available in the app owned by Facebook. Therefore, in these cases not using WhatsApp is always an advantage, since we will not lose the main functions of the messaging app but we will gain security and privacy in most cases.

Conclution….

Despite all this, if we were to ask all the people around us if they would be willing to stop using WhatsApp to start using some of the alternatives mentioned above, we dare to assure that most of them would give us an answer. a resounding no.

And it is that the fact that it is the most popular instant messaging app and used to be in contact with our friends and family, makes most users put aside all those aspects that have to do with security, privacy or the use of our data by the company. Something that is undoubtedly quite important but unfortunately, in most cases it is not valued as it should. Hence, the use of WhatsApp is increasingly widespread, since it is the most used app and makes everyone continue to be hooked on it. https://chatalternative.app