![]() Tencent owns the two most popular messaging apps in China, WeChat and QQ, and is bottom of our message privacy scorecard, scoring zero out of 100. It has made no public commitment to freedom of expression, and does not publish a transparency report. Score 26 / 100 Blackberryīlackberry Messenger is reported to have 100 million users, and only offers end-to-end encryption as a paid subscription service. It does not deploy end-to-end encryption and needs to do more to inform users about how the company is tackling threats to their rights – particularly as Snapchat’s ‘disappearing’ messages may give users a false sense of privacy. Although it has a strong policy commitment towards privacy, in practice it does not do enough to protect its users’ privacy. The US-based service is used by more than 100 million people every day. Despite Microsoft’s strong policy commitment to human rights, it is still using a weak form of encryption on Skype. Skype has been a major target of government surveillance worldwide. Microsoft has owned Skype since 2011, and the voice and video calling service now has 300 million active users. The company subsequently took steps to strengthen its level of encryption, but it is not applying end-to-end encryption as a default Score 40 / 100 Microsoft In October 2014, the company came under significant pressure following reports it had given the South Korean government information about its users. The South Korean company owns KakaoTalk, an app with a reported 49 million active monthly users. But it does not publish a transparency report, or disclose full details of how it is implementing encryption. The company scored full marks for providing end-to-end encryption by default in all communication. The Viber messaging app has 700 million registered users and almost 250 million active daily users. The app scored full marks for providing end-to-end encryption by default in all communication on their messaging apps, but does not do enough to inform users about threats to human rights, and does not publish a transparency report. The Line mobile messaging service has more than 200 million active daily users, with the majority in Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan. Google does disclose government requests for data and has taken a public stance against “encryption backdoors” which would unlock devices or apps and allow governments to access personal data. ![]() There is end-to-end encryption on Duo but it’s only optional on Allo, and Hangouts doesn’t have it at all. Google’s messaging apps are Allo, Duo and Hangouts. It’s therefore surprising that the company does not put in end-to-end encryption as a default, and users receive no warning when they are using weaker encryption. It brands itself as a secure messaging app and takes a strong stance on protecting users’ privacy and freedom of expression. Telegram Messenger is a messaging app with 100 million monthly active users. However the company should do more to notify users within the apps themselves about when their information is protected through end-to-end encryption and when it is not (for example when you send a message to a non-iPhone user). Apple has also taken a public stance against “encryption backdoors”, and discloses government requests for government data. Score 73 / 100 AppleĪpple’siMessage and Facetime apps scored 67 out of 100, providing full end-to-end encryption by default. WhatsApp is the only app where users are explicitly warned when end-to-end encryption is not applied to a particular chat, but Messenger does not apply end-to-end encryption as a default, and does not warn users that regular conversations use a weaker form of encryption. Facebookįacebook, whose instant messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp together have 2 billion users, is doing the most to use encryption to respond to human rights threats, and is most transparent about the action it’s taking. Please consult a digital security expert and do not rely on any one app to protect your information. We have not assessed other privacy aspects of the apps or their overall security. If you’re a journalist or activist, or if you believe you might be personally targeted for electronic surveillance, you need a comprehensive digital security plan. Please note that this is an assessment of each company’s key policies and practices in relation to encryption. In particular, we’ve looked at whether they apply end-to-end encryption – a way of making your photos, videos and chats unintelligible to anyone but you and the people you’re talking to. Campaigns OctoHow private are your favourite messaging apps? We’ve ranked 11 companies that run the world’s most popular messaging apps – including Skype, Snapchat and Facebook Messenger – on how well they’re using encryption to protect your online privacy.
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