# How bad is Telegram when using only secret chats?

**URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/how-bad-is-telegram-when-using-only-secret-chats/40156
**Category:** Questions
**Created:** 2026-08-24T21:23:20Z
**Posts:** 19
**Showing post:** 6 of 19

## Post 6 by @TheDoc — 2026-08-25T03:17:59Z

If you meet someone using iMessage or Google Messages, I’d consider encrypted RCS via Google Messages. Otherwise the next best “mainstream” options are between WhatsApp and Telegram. [WhatsApp’s E2EE has issues](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/10/where-whatsapp-went-wrong-effs-four-biggest-security-concerns) but [Telegram’s E2EE is still pretty bad](https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/messengers.html#telegram) in comparison. However, [Telegram](https://privacyspy.org/product/telegram/) seems to have a better privacy policy than [WhatsApp](https://privacyspy.org/product/whatsapp/).

If you’re more concerned with protecting the contents of your messages, I’d prefer encrypted RCS \> WhatsApp \> Telegram. If you’re more concerned about hiding your phone number or handing over your metadata to the likes of Meta and telecom providers, I’d prefer Telegram \> encrypted RCS \> WhatsApp. In my experience, finding a Telegram user IRL is as rare as finding a Signal user. If Telegram isn’t super common where you are, you may be stuck with WhatsApp or encrypted RCS regardless of what you deem a lesser evil.

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