Secure messaging via chat apps

With the smartphone it is easy to send a message or photo to family or friends. You have the choice of what you want to do: send a text message or send a message via chat apps such as WhatsApp. This article describes exactly what the differences are and how the security of the messages is arranged.

Texting is the oldest way to send text messages and photos to other people. You can text via the standard messaging app. The messages are sent via the network of the provider. You pay for this through your subscription. Some plans contain a certain number of calling minutes and text messages. With other subscriptions, everything is on the high hopes. When the bundle is used up, you have to pay extra. Sending an SMS from abroad costs money, how much depends on the country in which you reside. When crossing the border you will receive a text message stating the costs. You can send text messages to anyone whose phone number you know.

Text messages are not specifically protected. They are sent and received via a protected network. It does not mean that everyone can tap your messages, but it does mean that no special technique is used to encrypt the SMS traffic. SMS is perfectly suitable for normal use.

WhatsApp is the main competitor to SMS. WhatsApp lets you send text messages, voice messages, videos, and photos to contacts. These are people who are on your phone as a contact person and who also use WhatsApp. That’s an important difference from texting: if the other person doesn’t have WhatsApp, you can’t message them. But almost all smartphone users have the app, so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. WhatsApp traffic runs through the Internet, so through a Wi-Fi connection or your mobile data plan.

The messages you send and receive are provided with so-called end-to-end encryption. That is a technical term that indicates that only you and the other person can read/see the content of a message.

Telegram is a chat app that has become more popular in recent years. Some of the former WhatsApp users have switched to Telegram since Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014. The app is fine in itself, privacy is respected. The messages are encrypted by default while chatting, but it is also possible to start a fully encrypted conversation for extra privacy. Only you and the recipient can read the text. There is also an option to initiate self-destructing conversations. The messages clear themselves on the devices of the participants in the conversation, after a predetermined time. The app is simple to use and it is in Dutch.

The main disadvantage of Telegram is the small number of Dutch users. As with WhatsApp, you can only exchange messages with people who use the same app. If you choose Telegram, there is a chance that many contacts do not have the app, so that no conversation can take place with it.

Signal is also a competitor of WhatsApp. The app works on the same principle: chat over the internet connection with other people who also use the app. Signal is slightly better known than Telegram in terms of security. Just like with WhatsApp, the messages are encrypted from start to finish, so only you and the other participants in the call can see the content of the messages. However, the app has fewer users, which makes it more likely that few contacts use this app. However, it is possible to send text messages with Signal to people who do not use the app. However, this option is not extra secured. The SMS option may be useful for people who don’t find the default SMS app that useful and prefer to use only one app for all messages.

WhatsApp is the most used app to send and receive messages. A lot more popular than text messages (in our country). The messages are encrypted, so only you and the recipient can read them.

There are also other apps to chat with. But it only works if your contacts use those apps too. That is usually not the case. The other apps have a lot less users than WhatsApp. People are also normally not very willing to start using another app just for one person they know. The alternatives all have their own advantages, so if you’re serious about privacy, you can test them and recommend them to your contacts with confidence.