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Topics: Apple, Donald Trump, Meta, Phones, Politics, Technology, WhatsApp, iPhone
An expert has lifted the lid on which messaging app is the most secure amid the Trump administration's 'data leak'.
The question over which device or form of messaging app is the best and most secure has been open to debate ever since the tech emerged.
However, the issue has been catapulted to the foreground once again after White House officials managed to add an Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, into a group chat that discussed an upcoming war attack.
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Goldberg said he was mistakenly added to the Signal message group alongside some major top officials, including Vice-President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth while officials allegedly spoke about US strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The blunder prompted outrage from across the political spectrum with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer calling it 'one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence that I have read about in a very, very long time.'
Yet according to tech expert and columnist at Inc., Jason Aten, Signal is one of the most secure messaging app because it is end-to-end encrypted and the company doesn't have access to metadata on conversations held in the app.
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Signal president Meredith Whittaker also described it as the 'gold standard in private comms' on Twitter when set against Meta's WhatsApp.
“We’re open source, nonprofit, and we develop and apply (end-to-end encryption) and privacy-preserving tech across our system to protect metadata and message contents,” she added.
But Trump doubled down, instead pointing the blame to Signal by saying it 'could be defective'.
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Meanwhile, she said: "Neither consumer or business WhatsApp protects intimate metadata like contact lists, who's messaging whom, when, profile photo, etc. And, when compelled, like all companies that collect the data to begin with, they turn this important, revealing data over."
However, the type of device you have can also play a part in the security of your data.
According to Aten, iMessage is 'arguably the best and the most secure option' as Apple is 'well known for its commitment to security and privacy'.
A major advantage is that Apple employs a '1:1 encryption model for group chats', meaning every message is encrypted individually within the group which, the columnist notes, makes it more secure than Signal.
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The downside, however, is that an iPhone is required to reap the benefits of iMessage.
Messages between Android and Apple users will 'fall back to RCSm or, worse, SMS', neither of which are encrypted, Aten said.
Additionally, if the iCloud is involved in backing up messages, a copy is kept on Apple's servers which could be handed over to law enforcement if asked.
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As for Telegram, Inc., the app does have some encryption in a 'Secret Chat' but it is not an end-to-end encryption device by default - meaning messages can be vulnerable.
Meanwhile, Meta's Messenger app started enrolling end-to-end encryption, which the news outlet says 'should eventually put it on par with WhatsApp', but it isn't as secure as it currently stands.
"It’s worth mentioning, however, that it does not matter how private or secure the encryption is on a messaging platform," the expert continues. "If you include someone in a group chat and send a message to that group, they’re going to be able to read the message."
The columnist said the problem that has since transpired 'has nothing to do with encryption, and everything to do with human error'.
Aten concluded: "Most of these apps offer a secure form of E2EE for consumers, but there is no guarantee your messages will stay secret if you text them to a journalist."