The messaging app Signal has been all over the news after a handful of White House officials, including Vice President JD Vance, used the app to communicate with each other about a military strike in Yemen in March. While you shouldn’t use Signal — or any other encrypted messaging app — to discuss government operations like this, Signal is still one of the most privacy-focused messaging apps available to the public.
Before the White House debacle, the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency recommended using an encrypted messaging app to thwart a telecommunications breach. According to Politico, a Chinese government-linked hacking group known as Salt Typhoon was targeting telecom companies in the US and elsewhere, gaining access to US political leaders and national security data.
«Use your encrypted communications where you have it,» Jeff Greene, executive assistant director of cybersecurity at CISA, said in December.
Encrypted messaging apps offer end-to-end encryption, which ensures your messages aren’t readable to anyone besides their intended recipient. Some other chat apps like iMessage and Google Messages also provide end-to-end encryption, but these apps generally require you to be using a specific mobile platform (iOS or Android). While we might see encrypted RCS messaging come to iOS and Android soon, you can use encrypted messaging apps like Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp now to communicate with people regardless of platform.
Of the three, Signal offers the best privacy protections. The important distinction is in what data these apps collect and how transparent each is, and Telegram and WhatsApp fall short of Signal. But remember that even apps with good security standards and privacy policies can be undermined by phishing and similar threats, so it’s important to stay vigilant regardless of your messaging app.
Here’s what you need to know about these encrypted messaging apps.
For more on privacy, check out CNET’s best VPN services, best password managers and best antivirus software.
