3 ms·

> Worst part of the article: the recommendations at the end. > The author lists a kitchen sink full of privacy tools including Telegram, which the entire infos

> Worst part of the article: the recommendations at the end. > The author lists a kitchen sink full of privacy tools including Telegram, which the entire infosec community agrees is terrible. Do not use Telegram. > Use Tor, use Signal. Usability, or lack of annoyances, will always trump security and privacy. Tor is way too slow for most purposes. In my experience, I don't believe it can be a generic mass solution (people in most places around the world already have slow connections - sharing that with others would be the last thing they'd want to do, even though more people running Tor means it gets better, on average, for everyone). Signal is way too deficient on features and usability compared to Telegram. I want to get out of Telegram and use Signal, but it's at least a few years behind Telegram in various ways (speed, features, lack of good desktop options, relying only on phone number with no usernames or other ways to add/establish contacts, and more). By the time Signal catches up, I believe Telegram would be far ahead again. For messaging and privacy, what would be better to have is a decentralized system that has good usability, multi-device support and can become popular.

j_s 10y ago
If you're prioritizing features and usability, WhatsApp is considered more favorably than Telegram.
- 1propionyl 10y ago
  WhatsApp is owned by Facebook. They almost certainly do not have privacy as a central focus beyond its utility as a marketing bullet. It's just more embrace, extend, extinguish. Facebook is doubling down on Messenger. They don't want to support multiple messengers. As soon as they can find a way to convert those pesky privacy-conscious Europeans to Messenger, WhatsApp is dead.
  - marcosdumay 10y ago
    They may not do it for the best reasons, but they do have a better implementation than Telegram and, the most important, Watsapp is private by default. Telling people to move from Watsapp to Telegram nowadays is bad advice. for any point of view.
  - newscracker 10y ago
    > WhatsApp is owned by Facebook. > They almost certainly do not have privacy as a central focus beyond its utility as a marketing bullet. That's certainly one big concern I have with WhatsApp (and that's why I don't use it). The other thing is WhatsApp is not as good as Telegram in UX like the GP claims it to be. As one example, Telegram has desktop clients that do not need the phone to be around after a one time account verification, whereas WhatsApp, in my knowledge, always needs the phone to be around for the desktop or web app to be useful.
nbraud 10y ago
> people in most places around the world already have slow connections - sharing that with others would be the last thing they'd want to do You seem to misunderstand how Tor works. It doesn't require you to become a relay (i.e. carry other people's traffic) to use, and never has. Furthermore, my experience with Tor on bad connections is that, once the connection to your entry guard is established (once per reboot, takes 30s to 1 minute on terrible connections with packet loss), Tor was just as slow as the original connection. For those who have decent Internet access, it just works to watch Youtube videos, for instance, over Tor.

j_s 10y ago

If you're prioritizing features and usability, WhatsApp is considered more favorably than Telegram.

1propionyl 10y ago
WhatsApp is owned by Facebook. They almost certainly do not have privacy as a central focus beyond its utility as a marketing bullet. It's just more embrace, extend, extinguish. Facebook is doubling down on Messenger. They don't want to support multiple messengers. As soon as they can find a way to convert those pesky privacy-conscious Europeans to Messenger, WhatsApp is dead.
- marcosdumay 10y ago
  They may not do it for the best reasons, but they do have a better implementation than Telegram and, the most important, Watsapp is private by default. Telling people to move from Watsapp to Telegram nowadays is bad advice. for any point of view.
- newscracker 10y ago
  > WhatsApp is owned by Facebook. > They almost certainly do not have privacy as a central focus beyond its utility as a marketing bullet. That's certainly one big concern I have with WhatsApp (and that's why I don't use it). The other thing is WhatsApp is not as good as Telegram in UX like the GP claims it to be. As one example, Telegram has desktop clients that do not need the phone to be around after a one time account verification, whereas WhatsApp, in my knowledge, always needs the phone to be around for the desktop or web app to be useful.

nbraud 10y ago

> people in most places around the world already have slow connections - sharing that with others would be the last thing they'd want to do You seem to misunderstand how Tor works. It doesn't require you to become a relay (i.e. carry other people's traffic) to use, and never has. Furthermore, my experience with Tor on bad connections is that, once the connection to your entry guard is established (once per reboot, takes 30s to 1 minute on terrible connections with packet loss), Tor was just as slow as the original connection. For those who have decent Internet access, it just works to watch Youtube videos, for instance, over Tor.