Messaging apps are the latest means of communication, particularly popular among today’s tech friendly younger generation.
You have WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Tencent, SnapChat, Allo and the list continues, but which of these apps is the safest when it comes to data privacy, an important feature in today’s everything connected hack-able environment.
According to a report published by the Amnesty International, WhatsApp and Messenger, both products of Facebook are the safest when comes to data privacy. Both apps enjoy almost 2 billion users, and are the most active to use encryption.
The Amnesty International report ranked 11 companies running some of the world’s most popular messaging apps i.e. Skype, Snapchat and Facebook Messenger based on how well they’re using encryption to protect your online privacy.
As per the report, WhatsApp is the only app where users are warned when end-to-end encryption is not applied while chatting, ‘but Messenger does not apply end-to-end encryption as a default, and does not warn users that regular conversations use a weaker form of encryption.’
The Facebook owned messaging apps enjoyed a score of 73/100.
“If you think instant messaging services are private, you are in for a big surprise,” said Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Head of Amnesty International's Technology and Human Rights Team, reported Daily Mail.
“The reality is that our communications are under constant threat from cybercriminals and spying by state authorities… Young people, the most prolific sharers of personal details and photos over apps like Snapchat, are especially at risk,” added Elsayed-Ali.
Apple’s iMessage and Facetime apps along with cross platform Telegram Messenger were the second best apps scoring 67 out of 100, the apps were placed below Facebook as the report suggested that Apple should ‘do more’ to notify users within the apps themselves about when their information is protected when it is not by end-to-end encryption.
The report particularly warned about the use of Snapchat, scoring just 26/100 as the service used by more than 100 million people every day does not do enough to protect its users’ privacy. The report said that Snapchat ‘does not deploy end-to-end encryption and needs to do more to inform users about how the company is tackling threats to their rights.’
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