How do you connect with your friends these days?
WhatsApp, iMessenger, Line, WeChat, FaceTime, Skype, Kakao Talk, Snapchat…

You must have recognized one of these apps or even have all of them on your phone, but do you know someone might be watching you when you chat with your friends? Amnesty International, an organization who has been helping people claim their rights across the world, has assessed the most popular messaging apps to see if they well protect their users’ online privacy. According to the report, Facebook’s WhatsApp, Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime are the few apps that perform better since they provide end-to-end encryption as a default.

Why is end-to-end encryption important?

End-to-end encryption is important because it scrambles the messages and data, and blocks anyone, such as snoopers, ISPs, or governments, from peeking your message during data transmission, so only the people talking to each other are able to read the message.

According to Amnesty International, “Facebook, whose instant messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp together have 2 billion users, are doing the best to use encryption in response to human rights threats, and is most transparent about the action it’s taking.” When you send a message through WhatsApp, it would warn you if end-to-end encryption is not applied. Apple’s iMessage and Facetime apps also provide full end-to-end encryption by default. However they only works among Apple users.

On the other side of the chart, encryption is a paid service on BlackBerryMessenger, yet not even an option on Snapchat, WeChat, or Skype. Your privacy seems not to be taken that seriously.

Now you feel like sharing this news with your friends. Which app would you choose to tell them about it? Our advice is: Don’t leave the door open for anyone to invade your rights of privacy.

Check: Another way of creating end-to-end encryption