idk which sub to post this and this is the closest thing i got to this question’s subject
there was some controversy about whatsapp’s user agreements here in turkey and my party’s unit group migrated from whatsapp to… telegram.
element.io (matrix)
finally! someone that suggest element!!! on reddit i usually get cutted out, every time I suggest some reasonable privacy respective alternative…
also easy to selfhost with yunohost
There’s lots of good discussions on this over at lemmy.ml , but matrix / element is my favorite, followed by XMPP. If you’re super cautious, and someone in your party is tech-oriented, you can host your own instance of it. But otherwise just sign up on the main instance.
can xmpp be encrypted?
Ya, clients can use this encryption protocol called OMEMO, which apps like conversations can use. I think you have to enable it per room tho, whereas matrix is now e2ee enabled by default in all rooms.
Honestly it depends on what kind of communication is going on in your party. If it’s normal non-illegal stuff you would be fine using things like telegram and signal.
You will get privacy in a limited sense using a centralised application, even if it’s end to end encrypted because I don’t know how they handle the keys. The biggest issue with apps like signal and telegram is that they need your phone number. To avoid that you can use some Matrix instance maybe if that is an issue.
Telegram is actually worse because chats by default aren’t end-to-end encrypted, so the company can see everything you write unless you manually create an encrypted chat. WhatsApp’s chats are still end-to-end encrypted by default, despite the ToS changes. The safest bets in my opinion should be other end-to-end encrypted messengers like Element (or any other client for the Matrix protocol), Wire, Signal, …
https://www.wired.com/story/telegram-encryption-whatsapp-settings/
Telegram isn’t bad … if you use private chats.
Signal is good
Matrix/Element is good
XMPP (the Conversations app on F-droid is completely free) is good
Tox is supposed to be a complete replacement for WhatsApp and doesn’t need a phone number.
Silence allows end-to-end encrypted text messages
Delta Chat is an app with a messenger interface that uses email for end-to-end encrypted messages
Session is end-to-end encrypted messages and hides metadata by using the Tor network
I would especially suggest using F-Droid to install these as it requires upload of source code
In a way, migrating to Telegram isn’t so bad, one less application part of the same company is always good.
I convinced my friends many years ago to use Wire, now we moved to Element, and this last one looks very user friendly. I don’t think I can recommend Session, could be confusing for the average person. All of them “safe” as you mentioned.
Signal
