Hi :) I know that Telegram is not save and not a good messenger if you are a privacy-geek. Sadly some parts of my family still think so. I brougth up the arguments, that they are cooperating with Russia, that they or closed-source on the server-side and that e2ee is not on by default and only available for 1-on-1 chats.
My question now is, if you gals and guys might have some other arguments or sources I could use.
I don’t want to convince anyone to switch away from Telegram (because I am no missionary :D) I just want people to understand the risks of using Telegram.
Can we be real for a minute though?
It’s still better than not having it as an option.
By telegram existing, it diversifies the non private messaging landscape. It’s obviously not better than actually secure and/or private services, but the more options that are out there, the less centralization there is, which is a net positive.
You just have to be aware of its limitations and don’t use it for anything significant. In that regard it’s no worse than something like discord.
You already covered the warnings about not trusting it for privacy or security, so that’s really the beat you can do in informing people. Once you’ve done your due diligence for the people you care about, you gotta let them do what they’re gonna do. It’s either that or go hard and refuse to communicate on anything other than the services you deem best for your preferences and hope for the best
you are correct and it is true that it is better to have many options. Although it is a little iffy that still many people belive in the fact, that it is private and secure.
Also I totally agree on what you are saying: dont push people into something they dont want simply explain the possible downsides and move on.
I’d still wouldn’ t use it so communicating with me is will still not be done via Telegramm :D
WIRE or Signal. Granted, convincing your people to move with you is like trying to get an act of Congress in play.
They download apps for all kinds of bullshit because all their friends and people they follow are on there. They won’t install a messaging app if none of the people they interact with are there. It’s not specific to messaging. I was able to convince my immediate family to move to Signal just for our family group chats. It’s not much but it’s a start.
Is it true that Telegram doesn’t encrypt group chats at all? Maybe that would get their attention?
My biggest criticism of Telegram (but not the only one) is that they use homebrew crypto. Of course, I don’t know if your family would understand why that’s bad.
It’s true. I’m also really annoyed with rising telegram premium stuff. It used to be just a nifty addon, now it’s everywhere.
e2ee chats are super annoying. They don’t sync between desktop and mobile, so almost nobody will use them,
Even if I insist they do and create a secret chat, they’ll message me back in an unencrypted chat because they changed to their other device.
This isn’t an issue on Wire and Matrix
There are Ukrainian and Russian ties… AFAIK it’s used heavily on both sides of the conflict. The founder had some commentary as to why the stance they’ve taken is the stance they’ve taken.
His mother is also from Ukraine herself:
… and Pavel is a French / UAE citizen (as additionally demonstrated by the French government holding him for questioning). The “Telegram is a Russian puppet” arguments are fairly weak.
