Telegram was launched in 2013 and has since become one of the most widely used messaging apps. Some people use Telegram to communicate with family and friends, while others use it to stay informed in group chats or channels, where one or few people can broadcast content to millions of subscribers.

It allows you to send self-destructing messages, post huge files, create and interact with bots, start end-to-end encrypted voice and video calls, and do most things that you can expect from a messaging app, like sending audio messages, stickers and emojis.

So what's wrong with Telegram? Well, it dangerously gives some people a false sense of privacy that is in no way warranted. This is mainly due to misleading advertising: Telegram claims to be open source and heavily encrypted. Even if these deceptive statements were truth, the popular messaging app has other serious issues that compromise your privacy.

Closed-source, centralized and not encrypted: a privacy nightmare

Only the Telegram client code is open source, but that code is useless without the back-end closed-source programs and infrastructure. Those core components are controlled by a single company that can be easily forced to comply with authorities. In August 2024, Telegram CEO was arrested by French authorities who demanded information on users of the app. He gave in, showing the world that your private conversation, phone number, IP address, pictures and so on are not safe.

Telegram's funding depends on paid subscriptions that unlock special features and ads. Who can assure you that in the future they will not expand their revenue streams by offering you ads based on the things you send or training AI?

What prevents Telegram employees, hackers or government agents from reading your messages? Nothing. Messages on Telegram aren't encrypted by default, so users are in the buff. Sure, They could start a "secret chat", which is quite inconvenient, as you have to tap various buttons to access this option and wait for the other user to connect before you can send messages. To add insult to injury, that feature is not available on desktop or web clients and its usage would surely raise suspicion. Optional privacy makes users who opt in stand out in the crowd.

You will be tracked

Forget about being anonymous on Telegram. Before you can even start chatting you have to provide a phone number, which can easily be linked to your real identity. As a solution, you could use a burner phone and use Telegram on your computer, but what if you want to use it on a mobile phone? You would have to be tech-savvy enough to install a privacy-friendly mobile operating system and avoid being tracked by mobile phone networks.

One way to protect your identity is to pay for a remote SMS verification with Monero (SMSpool offers this service) and use Telegram on a free operating system. If you are afraid that Telegram might ask for verification again and you want to keep using the same account, you can buy or long-term rent a mobile number that is not related to your identity.

In short, using Telegram for privacy or anonymity is overly complicated, so it is not recommended for those purposes. If someone invites you to use Telegram to talk about sensitive topics, avoid entering the lion's den. Instead tell them to do it in person or use an open source, decentralized and anonymous alternative (such as SimpleX, Delta Chat or Briar).

The Tor network not only provides privacy, but also reduces costs and makes your website more censorship-resistant. How?

On the Web you need to pay for a domain. That domain can easily be censored by the authorities if they consider you to be doing something illegal or if you are in a country without freedom of speech. In contrast, on the Tor network you do not have to pay for a centralised authority to assign an IP address to your Keep reading Why choose the Tor network to host your website?

There are things we shouldn't disclose: that we cracked a website, bought cryptocurrencies and gold, robbed something, etc. To avoid being identified we must use technologies that allow anonymity (such as Tor and virtual private networks), pay in cash, and not show IDs, that's clear. However, we often forget something very basic: to be quiet.

Creating an anonymous digital identity, for example, is very simple: you register with a username on a website using a VPN or Tor and upload content. Losing that anonymity, on the other hand, is also very easy: just reveal some data related to your real identity. These digital identities can have data, but they must be false. The way we write can also reveal our real identity, so it's recommended to make an effort to change your writing style.

The people you interact with shouldn't know anything you want to keep hidden, even if they are people you trust. You never know if those people you trust today will still be trustworthy tomorrow. The con man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice, Victor Lustig, was arrested because his mistress became jealous of a relationship he was having with another woman and decided to rat him out.

Of course, many times we want to brag about our feats. We want to brag about our hacks, we want to show off.... Better not to do it. It's better to be humble and make up some excuse. “That's money my father gave me”; “I have cryptocurrencies, but not much”... In short, the best thing to do is to keep your mouth shut if you don't want to get caught and you don't want to be in the spotlight. Don't be the fool who brags about buying 100 grams of gold and the next day finds his house ransacked.

Banks love to sell you cards. Don't fall into the trap: paying by card comes with a lot of dangers and extra costs.

Keep reading Why you should never pay by card

Finding hidden services for Tor can be tricky without the help of a search engine. Fortunately, there are quite a few. Links to these search engines work only for browsers that allow access to hidden services, such as the Tor Browser and Brave.

1. Ahmia

This search engine is free software and has more than 53 000 hidden services indexed Keep reading Best search engines for Tor's dark web