Is telegram secure? What kind of information can be revealed through a telegram account? IP address? Phone number?
Good timing… I’m streaming again tonight.
I’m not going to go through all the details of Telegram’s implementation, but here are some bullet points and suggestions:
- Standard group/channel/personal chats are encrypted, but not end-to-end encrypted. Telegram controls the key, so it’s exactly as secure as Tumblr messaging.
- Standard group/channel/personal chats won’t leak your IP, because everything is routed through Telegram’s servers.
- Phone calls are an exception. Make sure you go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Calls and set PEER-TO-PEER to “Never”.
- If obscuring your IP address is a priority, I’d recommend a VPN.
- Telegram requires a phone number for setting up an account. If possible, use a burner. Either way, be sure to follow the steps below.
- You can hide your phone number by default. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Phone Number and set WHO CAN SEE MY PHONE NUMBER to “Nobody”, and WHO CAN FIND ME BY MY NUMBER to “My Contacts”.
- Next go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Data Settings, then (a) turn off “Sync Contacts” and (b) tap “Delete Synced Contacts”.
- The two preceding changes together will prevent anyone connecting your number to your Telegram account.
- NOTE: Telegram will ask you to sync contacts when you install. Refuse. Any time you switch to the contacts tab, there will be a big button urging you to sync contacts. Ignore it.
- Joining a Telegram Channel is anonymous to other users. (The admin is the only one who can see a list of all members.)
- Joining a Telegram Group is not anonymous to other users… an announcement that you’ve joined is auto-posted to the group, and all members can view the group’s membership list.