Telegram is the 5th most downloaded app, beating Zoom, Snapchat, Twitter and is almost tied with WhatsApp.
Tiktok cements it's #1 status
Tiktok cements it's #1 status
I logged into telegram today and found that all my data had been deleted because I hadn't used it in 6 months. Like I get why that feature might be desirable in some circumstances but for me, I'm not using end-to-end encryption because I'm sharing state secrets that need to self destruct upon opening - I just don't want the middlemen.
I've been looking into alternatives like Matrix/Element, XMPP etc - it sounds like Element might be easier to get non-techy friends to adopt but it, from my understanding, has a fairly power hungry mobile app.
You can set the self destruct option to 1 year in Telegram. Matrix or Signal isn't as safe as people think they are. One has history of having ties to Mossad and other with CIA. Signal requires phone number and both have huge privacy issues with meta data. XMPP and Session seems better option.
Sources :
Why not Signal? And the Five Eyes
Matrix and Israeli Intelligence Amdocs