You can further protect yourself with a robust passcode or biometric locks like a fingerprint or facial recognition scanner that some newer devices offer. Even though the data will be safe in transit, that same data is vulnerable while sitting on those devices. It will not protect your data if your device, or the recipient's device, is stolen or compromised. There is a significant lapse in the security offered by any type of encryption used in these apps. End-to-end encryption is your best option for truly private communications, as only the sender and recipient will have the key to unravel this puzzle, and leaves the data obfuscated to even the chat's host.įor a full explainer on cryptography, read our recent feature: We Cannot Live Without Cryptography! The type of encryption used will determine who has this key. The desired recipient has a key that can be used to undo this process and reveal the data that you have sent to them- in this case, a readable message. Without getting too hung up in technical jargon, the encryption process scrambles the contents of the data that you encrypt, creating a complex mathematical puzzle between your data and would-be data harvesters. Ultimately, your data is never going to be completely invulnerable, but the average person can protect theirs to the highest degree within reason using a combination of end-to-end encryption, a VPN, and a robust rotation of passwords across their various accounts and devices. In short, having an end-to-end encrypted messaging service will offer you some protection from aggressive and intrusive advertisements, as well as other bad actors who would try to use your data maliciously.

Using end-to-end encrypted messaging services can make this data inaccessible to those that wish to collect it, or nearly impossible to read if they are able to get their grubby little hands on it.

Before consumers understood that their data is a commodity, the precedent was established that they give up their rights to that data when they sign up to online platforms. Why do you need end-to-end encrypted messaging?Įven with nothing to hide, protecting yourself from the unadulterated collection and use of the data that you constantly create is probably a good idea.

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