Do you know that your messages can be read by a third person without much effort?
Instant messaging apps have made our lives more straightforward than ever. We are just a text away from our friends, family, and even work. Whether it’s an emergency or a celebration, we can now get the news within seconds. But this luxury more often than not comes at the cost of data breaching, and it’s not okay. With most of your data available to the host company, third-party, and government, your personal information is teetering on the brink of mishaps that can be destructive.
Ever since users became aware of digital snooping, the demand for data security has created a stir among the companies to provide encryption. The most significant incident of data breaching came in the form of Facebook sharing personal data with Cambridge Analytica. To keep your social presence guarded against identity and data theft, many chat apps are providing end-to-end encryption. In this article, I am going to tell you about the most popular encrypted chat apps that you can use without worrying about privacy issues.
Top 10 Best Encrypted Instant Messaging Apps for 2020
1. Kaizala (Android, iOs)
Software giant Microsoft launched Kaizala, a phone number-based app that brings the efficiency of Microsoft Cloud to the comfort of your mobile phone. Kaizala connects businesses to employees, partners, buyers, vendors, mobile workforce all at one place. Users can also create large groups with unlimited members and make use of practical action cards like polls and surveys.
Microsoft is committed to privacy and as such, categorically avoid data mining and voluntary disclosure of data to government agencies. Kaizala residing on the Office 365 and Microsoft Azure cloud platforms makes it even more secure. Kaizala is compliant with security protocols like GDPR, ISO 27001, SOC1, and HIPAA. The algorithms used to encrypt Microsoft Crypto Board approves data before being put into place.
- Highly secure app with Office365 protection and Application Sandbox to isolate the code execution and user app data from other third-party apps
- Entire Office365 on your app to communicate and work with ease
- Create groups with unlimited members
- Announcements, Tasks, Polls, Survey, Attendance, Performance Tracking, File sharing, Location sharing. Submit Bills, create Checklists – all at one place
- Discover Public groups around you
- Play games
Available in two versions, Basic (free), Kaizala Pro (Rs 99/- per month)
Installs: 1,000,000+
Reviews: 17,675
Rating: 4.5
Offered By: Microsoft Corporation
2. Signal (Android, iOS, Desktop)
A product of Open Whisper Solution, Signal was built to ensure a really safe and private space for chatting. Arguably one of the most encrypted messaging app ever, the strict protocol that Signal adheres to makes it incredibly secure to use. It combines AES-256, X3DH, and Sesame to administer encryption across devices. Though this app isn’t as magnetic as WhatsApp yet, it provides an unmatched safe space to text, make voice and video calls, and share pictures.
- Secured video and voice calls, anytime and anywhere
- You can set a timer for message destruction that deletes your chat history at certain intervals of time
- The app is completely advertisement free
- Open source app for people to verify and audit the security measures
- Offers stickers, GIFs, and doodles
Installs: 10,000,000+
Reviews: 322,398
Rating: 4.6
Offered By: Signal Foundation
3. Silence (Android)
Silence, as the name suggests, is an open-source Android App for users to communicate without the threat of data theft. The app uses technology that not only protects your messages with encryption on the phone but also in transit. Silence, just like Signal, is an open source app for people to verify the security features.
- Supports SMS/MMS on Android phones without additional charges
- Internet isn’t required to use the app and send SMS
- Silence uses Signal encryption protocol with promising security and safety of data
The app is free for users and can be downloaded only on Play Store as of now.
4. WhatsApp (Android, iOS, Web)
The name needs no introduction. If there’s one common question that everyone asks, it’s ‘What’s your WhatsApp number?’ WhatsApp started as a basic messaging App in 2009 and has come a long way ever since its inception. The company introduced end-to-end encryption in the year 2016 to secure the user data and gain trust among its audience, that is technically most of the world.
- Customize, limit, and restrict notifications
- Supports voice, video and group video calls
- Ultimate User-interface for convenient texting
- Checkpoint Tipline feature to verify the authenticity of information circulated on WhatsApp
- Share live location, files, upload status, delete messages for everyone, etc
WhatsApp is free on Android, iOS, and Web; however, one need to pay to use WhatsApp for business.
Installs: 1,000,000,000+
Reviews: 9,10,89,943
Rating: 4.4
Offered By: WhatsApp Inc.
5. Telegram (iOS, Android, Web)
Launched in the year 2013, Telegram is a safe, cloud-based App for instant messaging and conversations. Telegram claims to have 200 million active users per month but has not been able to match WhatsApp’s popularity so far. Though cryptographers criticized the app in the past, the updated security measures on Telegram bags it a mention here.
- Telegraph is a cloud-based app
- Updated with highly useful Bots for messages
- Unsend messages get saved as drafts, so there’s no tension if you forget to hit Send and lose the message
- Channels and Groups for knowledge sharing, interaction, and information exchange
- Share location, get on video calls, send stickers to your friends on Telegram whenever you want
Telegram is available on iOS and Android for free.
Installs: 100,000,000+
Reviews: 3,708,738
Rating: 4.4
Offered By: Telegram FZ-LLC
6. Cyphr
Cyphr claims that they are a zero–reading messaging app, i.e. they do not read any of your messaging contents at any point of time. A completely encrypted simple messaging app, Cyphr is one of the most secure apps out there. Only you and the intended user can read messages privately; not even Cyphr! They store messages on their servers only till it gets delivered to the user. If you are a privacy fanatic, this one’s for you. However, do know that you can only message on this app. No voice or video calls.
- Simple messaging; no complicated interface
- Multiple layers of security
- No user data is stored
- Attachments are encrypted as well; no third-party interference
7. Wire
When it comes to secure messaging apps, Wire is definitely one of the most secure apps. This app from Wire Swiss has two variants: a free version for regular users and a paid version for organizations. Wire enables organizations and users to communicate information securely and easily. All your data including messages, files, video or voice calls, are secured. 100% open source and used by millions, Wire is a great option. You can share GIFs, audios, videos and a whole lot more!
- Voice and video calls enabled; encrypted as well
- Secure and private file sharing feature
- Personal and group chats are secured with end to end encryption
- Integrated app for both work and personal use
- Uses its own Proteus encryption
8. Threema
Threema is a powerful end-to-end encrypted messaging app and uses the NaCl cryptography library to protect information.This app can be used without any personal identifiers/ information like phone number or user email. With addition to full encryption, it also offers anonymity. With over 4.5 million users, it is a great choice and indeed a secure messaging platform.
- Offers user-rich features like file sharing (up to 20MB), video and image sharing, polling etc
- Unique ID generated to use the app which enables the user to be completely anonymous
- End-to-end encrypted voice calls
- Enables users complete anonymity
- Optimized for tablet as well
9. Dust
Dust is a private messaging app that has multiple security features, including end-to-end encryption. With a strong emphasis on user-privacy, the app uses a combination of AES 128 and RSA 2048 encryption to secure posts and messages. The app is also built to direct messages as much as possible in RAM, rather than your phone’s permanent storage. Adding to this, messages can be self-destructed within 24-hours or straightaway after being read. With over 27 million downloads, this app stores no proof of your messages and claims that it cannot be tracked, ensuring maximum security.
- Usernames or contact information are not displayed during messaging
- Screenshot notifications are enabled to secure conversations
- Unsend any messages anytime
- Share videos, images and other media
10. Wickr Me
Wickr Me is a free end-to-end encrypted-messaging app that allows users to send private messages which can be self-destructed. Be it text, photo, video, or voice- all of these are not only encrypted but destructs itself automatically. Wickr Me takes privacy very seriously and deletes all sorts of a digital footprint, using strong encryption and deleting metadata such as geotags and message times. They are so confident and proud of their app’s security that there is a $100,000 bug-bounty program for anyone who can point out a security flaw in the system and bring it to their attention.
- Users can set the timer for self-destruction of messages
- Wickr overwrites all deleted content on your device
- Voice calling and voice memo features enabled
- You can share images, videos and files, which are encrypted and can be self-destructed as well.
These were the top 10 most encrypted apps that you can use for secure conversations with your friends, family, or colleagues. Share documents and pictures without panicking about data theft and cybercrime.
Contributed By: Jaya Dwivedi
