Telegram (originating in Russia, but now banned for not handing over encryption keys to Russian authorities, and now also banned in Iran, where it has 40 million users, 25% of its global user population.) I don’t use Telegram, and don’t know many in my network who do. Yet, the app itself isn’t open for inspection. It also claims to not store metadata (anonymous use possible, no phone necessary, not logging who communicates with whom, contact lists and groups locally on your device etc). Trust levels in the application are partly based on exchanging keys when meeting face to face, adding a non-tech layer. Threema, a Switzerland based application, I also use but not with many contacts. Other possible apps using end-to-end encryption are: I prefer using Signal, but the uptake of Signal is slow in western countries. It does require you to disclose a phone number, which is a drawback.
Signal is available on your phone and as desktop app (paired with your phone). Other applications such as Whatsapp, FB Messenger or Skype have actually incorporated Signal’s encryption technology (it’s open after all), but in un-testable ways (they’re not open after all). The gold standard for messaging apps is Signal by Open Whisper Systems. Some in my network however don’t use any alternatives. I have WhatsApp on my phone but never use it to initiate contact. Facbeook says “ errors made in its 2014 filings were not intentional” Another “we’re sorry, honestly” moment for Facebook in a 15 year long apology tour since even before its inception. Facebook at the time said it couldn’t match Whatsapp and Facebook accounts automatically, then 2 years later did precisely that, while the technology for it already existed in 2014 of which Facebook was aware. (Koum on the other hand said he was going to spend time on collecting Porsches….) Previously the European Union fined Facebook 110 million Euro for lying about matching up data of Whatsapp with Facebook profiles when Facebook acquired Whatsapp in 2014. He donated $50 million to the non-profit Signal Foundation earlier this year, and stated he wanted to work on transparent, open-source development and uncompromising data protection. The other founder, Brian Acton, had already left Facebook last September, over similar issues. The second founder, Jan Koum, of WhatsApp has left Facebook, apparently over differences in dealing with encryption and the sharing of data of WhatsApp.
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