Here in the US, most people I know use iPhones and therefore, they use iMessage. I have mostly migrated to Signal, but I can’t convince everyone to use it. I still have to communicate with them. Even though Apple touts the privacy and security of its products, would you trust iMessage for your texti…

iMessage can collect your data by definition. As per this article, getting it requires a 2703d court order. And yes they do hand it: Apple acknowledges tracking iMessage metadata and sharing it with law enforcement (Apple Insider) Signal only stores when you last connected to the server, and when y…

[image] iluvprivacy: Why not? I have a minimum baseline for communication platforms: Entirely open-source software. Self-hostable (assuming client-server model).

Given what was said in the articles, I wonder if less metadata is collected if I add someone to iMessage with something other than a phone number?

You can always use your Apple ID as your contact to send and receive messages. You don’t need a phone number to start iMessage or Facetime chats.

Right, and I wonder if that is a good mitigation against the concerns raised by the articles? How do I ensure that SMS is never sent and only an iMessage is sent?

[image] iluvprivacy: How do I ensure that SMS is never sent and only an iMessage is sent? I believe iOS has a settings where you can disable send via SMS option should a message not go through iMessage. That’s the only way I know.

I remember seeing that option. If I don’t add the contact via a phone number, can an SMS still be accidentally sent?

I would not. Any service that requires me to KYC myself I do not consider private.

Privacy Guides Community

Would you use Apple iMessage?

Questions

anon80329175 February 10, 2026, 7:57am 13

As long as you disable that option in the settings, the OS should not send it via SMS. At this point, you need to trust the OS with this setting. In my experience, it does work. But I stopped using iOS a while ago having moved to GrapheneOS now so not sure how good iOS 26 is.

Topic		Replies	Views
Is iOS -> GrapheneOS worth it if losing iMessage General	71	4982	June 18, 2026
Which parts of iMessage aren't E2EE? Questions software	1	433	January 23, 2024
Chinese Telecom Hack General	6	345	January 3, 2025
If you could only choose between SMS and Whatsapp, what would you choose and why? General	22	2908	June 27, 2024
Advice on integrating an iPhone? Questions	7	431	January 31, 2026

Privacy Guides

Massive organizations are monitoring your online activities. Privacy Guides is your central privacy and security resource to protect yourself online.

Privacy Guides is a non-profit, socially motivated website that provides information for protecting your data security and privacy.

We do not make money from recommending certain products, and we do not use affiliate links.

Knowledge Base

Private Web Browsers

Top VPN Providers

Privacy-Respecting Services

Software Recommendations

More Resources

Would you use Apple iMessage?

Related topics