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Telegram messaging app founder Pavel Durov has launched a scathing attack on WhatsApp, calling the Meta-owned platform a “surveillance tool”.
In Thursday’s message, Durov urged users to stay away from WhatsApp and highlighted a security issue that WhatsApp disclosed in September. He said that WhatsApp had put user data at risk and claimed that the company had kept user data under surveillance for the past 13 years.
“Hackers could have full access to everything on WhatsApp users’ phones.” Additionally, he said that WhatsApp’s security problems are deliberately planned.
“Every year we hear about an issue in WhatsApp that puts everything on their users’ devices at risk… It doesn’t matter if you’re the richest person on earth – if you have WhatsApp installed on your phone, all your data from every app on your device is accessible ,” he added.
Last year, Durov said WhatsApp’s new terms required users to provide all their private data to Facebook. He said he is not pushing people to switch to Telegram this time.
“With over 700 million active users and over 2 million daily signups, Telegram doesn’t need any further promotion. You can use any messaging app, but stay away from WhatsApp – it’s been a tracking tool for 13 years now.” ” he claimed.
In 2020, Durov claimed that WhatsApp’s systems were not as secure as they seemed.
In a blog post titled “Why Using WhatsApp Is Dangerous,” Durov said that WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption as some kind of magic spell to ensure that all communications are automatically secured.
“However, this technology is not a silver bullet that alone can guarantee absolute privacy,” he said.
Durov claimed that Telegram’s ‘Secret Chats’ are significantly more secure than any competing means of communication.
“Don’t be fooled by the technical equivalent of circus magicians who would like to focus your attention on one isolated aspect, all while doing their tricks elsewhere. They want you to think of end-to-end encryption as the only thing you have to look at for privacy reasons. The reality is much more complicated,” the executive wrote.
