Is Telegram Safe? The Truth About “Cloud Chats” & Government Access

I want to ask you a simple question: Is Telegram safe to use ?

For most people, the answer is “Privacy.” You probably heard that it was the “safe” alternative to WhatsApp—a place where the government couldn’t look and big tech couldn’t track.

But in late 2024, the illusion cracked. Following the arrest of CEO Pavel Durov in France, Telegram quietly updated its privacy policy. The app that once promised to never give up a single byte of data agreed to share IP addresses and phone numbers with authorities under valid legal requests.

This begs the question we need to answer in 2025: Is Telegram actually safe?

The answer is complicated. If you use it correctly, it is a fortress. But if you use it like 90% of people do (with the default settings), it might actually be less secure than WhatsApp.

In this guide, I’m going to expose the difference between “Cloud Chats” and “Secret Chats” and show you the exact settings you need to change to stop your data from sitting on a server in the cloud.

The “Cloud Chat” Trap: Is Telegram Safer Than WhatsApp?

This is the biggest myth in the privacy world.

If you ask the average person, “Is Telegram safer than WhatsApp?”, they will almost always say “Yes.”

They are wrong.

Here is the technical reality: WhatsApp uses End-to-End Encryption (E2E) by default for every single message. This means not even Mark Zuckerberg can read your texts.

Telegram, however, does NOT use E2E encryption by default.

The Problem: Convenience Over Security

When you open Telegram and send a message to your friend, Telegram sends your message as a ‘Cloud Chat

• What this means: Your message is encrypted between your phone and Telegram’s server. But once it gets to the server, Telegram has the key to decrypt it. They store your chat history in their cloud so you can access it on your laptop, iPad, or new phone instantly.
• The Risk: Because the decryption keys are stored on Telegram’s servers, a rogue employee, a hacker, or a government with a court order could theoretically access your entire chat history.

The WhatsApp Difference

On WhatsApp, if you lose your phone, your chats are gone (unless you backed them up to Google Drive). On Telegram, if you lose your phone, your chats are waiting for you in the cloud.

That convenience comes at a price: Your Privacy.

So, is Telegram safer than WhatsApp? Out of the box, No. WhatsApp protects your content better by default. Telegram only protects you if you know where the hidden buttons are.

The “Government” Backdoor: Is Telegram Safe From Government?

For years, Telegram’s marketing pitch was simple: “We are a black box.” They famously claimed they had disclosed 0 bytes of data to third parties.

But in 2025, that era is effectively over.

Following legal pressure and the high-profile arrest of founder Pavel Durov, Telegram updated its Terms of Service. The new rules are clear: if Telegram receives a valid legal order from relevant judicial authorities concerning a suspect in a criminal case, they can disclose your IP address and Phone Number.

What This Means for You

• The “Burner” Myth: Many people use “Burner” accounts on Telegram thinking they are anonymous. But if you connect to Telegram without a VPN, your IP address (your digital home address) is logged.
• The “Activist” Risk: If you are a whistleblower, journalist, or activist in a regime with strict laws, Telegram is no longer a guaranteed shield. A court order can now unmask the physical location of a user behind a “secret” account.

Does this mean the government can read your messages? Not necessarily. They can see who you are (IP/Phone), but if you use the right settings, they still can’t read what you said.

The Hidden Risk: Is Telegram Safe with MTProto Encryption?

If you talk to a cryptography expert, they will likely tell you they don’t trust Telegram. Why? Because of MTProto.

Most secure apps (like Signal and WhatsApp) use the Signal Protocol, which is the gold standard of the industry. It is open-source, battle-tested, and trusted by every security expert in the world.

Telegram decided to do something different. They built their own custom encryption protocol called MTProto.

• The Problem: “Rolling your own crypto” is generally considered a bad idea in the security world because it hasn’t been tested as rigorously by the public community as the Signal Protocol.
• The Reality: While MTProto hasn’t been widely “broken” yet, it adds an unnecessary layer of “trust us” to the app. You are betting your privacy on Telegram’s engineers being smarter than the rest of the world combined.

“Start the PixelDefence Protocol Now”

How to Make Telegram Safe (Step-by-Step)

If you love the app and don’t want to leave, you have to stop using it the “default” way. You need to manually turn it into a fortress.

Here is the 4-step protocol to secure your account in 2025.

Step 1: Enable “Secret Chats” (The Kill Switch)

Step 2: Hide Your Phone Number

By default, anyone can find your profile if they have your contact number. Let’s kill that link.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy and Security.
2. Tap Phone Number.
3. Change “Who can see my phone number?” to Nobody.
4. Change “Who can find me by my number?” to My Contacts (or Nobody, if available).

Step 3: Set a Self-Destruct Timer

Data that doesn’t exist can’t be subpoenaed.

1. Inside your Secret Chat, tap the small clock icon (or tap the profile name).
2. Set the “Self-Destruct Timer” to 1 Week or 1 Day.
3. Your messages will now vanish from both phones automatically.

Step 4: The Cloud Password (2FA)

If someone clones your SIM card (SIM Swapping), they can steal your Telegram account. The Cloud Password stops this.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy and Security.
2. Tap Two-Step Verification.
3. Set a strong password. Now, even if a hacker steals your SMS code, they can’t login without this password.

Comparison: Is Telegram Safe Compared to Signal & WhatsApp?

If you are still on the fence, here is the raw data.

Feature	Signal 🛡️	WhatsApp 🔒	Telegram ☁️
Default Encryption	End-to-End (Always)	End-to-End (Always)	Server-Side (Cloud)
Metadata Logged	Almost None	High (Who/When)	High (IP/Contacts)
Backups	Local Only (Safe)	Cloud (Google/iCloud)	Cloud (Telegram Servers)
Owner	Non-Profit	Meta (Facebook)	Private LLC

WhatsApp is encrypted, but it’s owned by Meta. If you are worried about what Meta does with your data, read my report on the Facebook Shadow Profile.

Conclusion: So, Is Telegram Safe in 2025?

Is Telegram safe?

If you treat it like a casual social network for news channels and memes? Yes.

If you treat it like a secure vault for private secrets without changing the settings? No.

For true anonymity, I recommend moving your most sensitive chats to Signal. But if you stay on Telegram, promise me one thing: Start a Secret Chat.

If you want to secure your phone completely, read my guide on how to delete your Google Advertising ID.

Privacy doesn’t stop at your messaging app. If you are on a PC, make sure you check my guide on how to disable Windows Copilot permanently.”

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)