It depends. By default, it uses a weaker encryption than WhatsApp. You can turn on e2e encryption, but not in group chats.

On the other hand, it has multiple FOSS clients, will work on pretty much any platform, and has a great UI.

If you want a fairly secure chat app that your grandparents can use, then Telegram is perfect. If you’re sending highly confidential stuff, then no.

It’s also suitable for project groups, because of the better tools (and moderation bots) available to the mods.

Ah, sorry. On the phone, open Settings and go Apps -> Manage Apps. Then choose an app and click the three dots on the top right. Select App Info, and look under App Name. This is equivalent to what UAD shows.

Oh that’s nice. No need for the computer then.

It has a GUI, and clearly shows what apps can be safely removed versus whst apos are load-bearing.

Yes of course.

Edit: Lot of third-party apps rely on Google Play Services, so removing this is not recommended.

It’s a Redmi something.

If it is still using the default OS (HyperOS / MiUI), you can uninstall both the Xiaomi and Google Photos apps. The easiest method nowadays is to install Universal Android Debloater on to your computer (any OS), connect your phone to it, enable USB debugging on the phone, and remove the apps you don’t want.

Inb4 cars are required to jam phone signal when in use.

I think a good compromise would be the car only reporting you if you cross the speed limit. But then, you’d have to take the manufacturer’s word for it.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think cars and heavy vehicles should report overspeeding and other reckless behaviour to the traffic police.

OP said nothing about influencers though?

You have three options:-

1. Use a tool like Universal Android Debloater to disable (but not completely remove) them.

2. See if you can get Nokia or Motorola phones. These have mostly vanilla Android.

3. Get a Xiaomi or OnePlus phone with a custom ROM pre-installed.

I think OP is confusing Instagram with Tiktok.

All you need is to exploit the phone and wait for them to open or use signal.

Physical access is root access. But just because you can’t make something NSA-proof dosen’t mean you can’t make it bloody difficult to break into.

• Excellent UI (WhatsApp keeps copying them, but they’re still ahead)

• Open-source client

• Good support for bots (very useful for group mods)

But both of those are possible on Firefox?

the ability to load and save data to the local file system

That sounds like a huge security risk. I’m surprised any browser allows it.

• Intellectual property rights are granted by the state, and can be revoked as per law.

• User data is not IP.

• The legal owner of data about an user is (usually) the user.

You don’t even need to go there. You can just claim to be a resident and most companies won’t actually bother to check. This is why when the EU passed GDPR, most companies just gave all users GDPR rights.

The way laws usually work is (gross oversimplification):-

Different state, same country - they have to follow this rule when dealing with customers from California.

Different country - they can break the law, but then California / US can sanction them (i.e. no US-based company can directly do business with them)

There are workarounds to both but 99% of companies will just comply, at least on paper.

It isn’t perfect, but I think there is a difference between a company that currently gives user data to advertisers and authoritarian governments, and one that hasn’t done any of that so far. There sure is a ‘trust me bro’ element, but they have had to relocate from Russia to Dubai because they refused to hand over opposition politicians’ chats. That’s a pretty big commitment to privacy.

Somewhere between WhatsApp and Signal. It has FOSS clients, hands over user data only under extraordinary circumstances (terrorism and child abuse, afaik), and runs on pretty much any hardware. The last two points make it very popular in eastern Europe and most of Asia. The main problem with Telegram is that normal chats are not end to end encrypted, and instead use a weaker encryption algorithm. Secure chats are e2e encrypted, but are not on by default.

Overall, it is used by opposition parties in countries like Russia, Belarus and Iran for day to day stuff, so it is fairly secure. Of course, if you are a reporter or activist who has a lot of enemies, you could get something even more secure.