Overview
In this article, we will review communication tools (messaging apps) in light of related privacy and security concerns as well as toward our larger goal of building and managing a healthy Internet connected life.
Bottom Line Up Front
Before communicating, consider if what you are about to say should be said in a digital format that is potentially recorded forever, and err on the side of caution.
Remember that whatever you send you lose control over; you do not control who receives the message, who sees it, nor what they do with it.
Remember that your words today can be used in the future in a context which views your past remarks as hostile.
When choosing a messaging app, avoid the free ones and those within the ecosystem of social media providers; assume WhatsApp any other social media connected messaging service is insecure and violates your privacy.
For optimal security, make sure your messaging app provider leverages MFA to secure your access, encryption to secure data in transit, and does not store your messages in a cloud service.
Practive Security recommends Signal for personal messaging and nothing else.
Mindset
In the spirit of building healthy habits in this digital age, I’d like to start by reminding us that it is preferable to find a way to communicate in non-digital ways. Digital communications are convenient, but they always create new risks and cannot replace human-to-human interactions, which are not proxied (transformed and moderated really) by technology.
Whenever we submit our words in digital form, we actually create several risks. We craft messages to conform to the standards of the medium (application and communication norms), we transmit them in ways that can be intercepted, collected, and later retrieved (perhaps by someone we don’t want), and the recipient has to interpret what we have said absent our inflections, tone, body language etc. This instantly creates the possibilities of misunderstanding, unauthorized view, and misrepresentation.
It is critical to remember that as soon as you click send, whatever you wrote is no longer under your control. That means you are delegating your privacy and security to the recipient or another future observer.
I’m sure we have all been hurt when our words were forwarded or shown to a person we did not intend, and I’m sure we have all had our written words misunderstood even when they were received by the right person. Digital communications are truly a limiting experience overall.
So before you choose a means by which you will communicate digitally, consider all this as well as the filters and forms the technology will be subjecting you to. Some questions to consider as you think about this:
Do I really need to communicate this?
Is this the optimal way to communicate?
Can this be misunderstood or misinterpreted?
Can it wait?
Could this be viewed by others without my knowledge?
What would the impact to me be, if what I shared falls into the hands of an unintended recipient?
Now let’s review security tactics and methods to determine if your messaging app is protecting your security and privacy.
