Signal app vs WhatsApp vs Telegram: who stores what info

After WhatsApp came up with the new privacy policy, which tells all the WhatsApp user information will be shared with its parent-subsidiary company Facebook with effect from Feb 8th all WhatsApp users should accept this below show screen show popup privacy policy to continue using WhatsApp before Feb. 8th else users who have not accepted will not be allowed to use the app.

What data are being collected from each app?

WhatsApp	Telegram	Signal
Device ID User ID Advertising Data Purchase History Coarse Location Phone Number Email Address Contacts Product Interaction Crash Data Performance Data Other Diagnostic Data Payment Info Customer Support Product Interaction Other User Content	Contact Info Contacts User ID	None – only user data Signal stores is user phone number

What WhatsApp offers?

WhatsApp offers most of the things you need.

1. support for group chats with up to 256 members.
2. broadcast messages to multiple contacts at the same time.
3. supports voice and video calls, both for individuals and groups.
4. for group video calls, you are restricted to 8 users at any time.
5. Status feature (also called WhatsApp stories) similar to Instagram stories.
6. allows you to share all sorts of files and documents, but there are file size limits to adhere to.
7. For photos, videos, and audio files, the limit is 16 MB.
8. documents can be up to 100 MB.
9. Share live location with your contacts.
10. backup and restores functionality through cloud services like Google Drive and iCloud. 

What Telegram Offers?

It offers so many features that are similar to WhatsApp,

1. the basics such as chats, group chats, and channels.
2. Telegram brings support for groups with up to 200,000 members.
3. offers multiple group-specific features such as bots, polls, quizzes, hashtags, and a lot more which can make group experiences a lot more fun.
4. self-destructing messages (like Snapchat) which is great if you’re sending messages that you don’t want to remain on the recipient’s device for eternity.
5. The size limit for sharing files on Telegram is a whopping 1.5 GB.
6. The app now has both voice and video call on Android and iOS devices, 

What Signal App offers?

1. Signal offers its users secure messaging, voice, and video calls and all communications are end-to-end encrypted.
2. create groups,  you don’t have the option to broadcast messages to multiple contacts at once.
3. Signal has recently added support for group calling as well.
4. It has a feature similar to the self-destructing messages of Telegram.
5. The best feature of Signal is “Note to Self”. Unlike WhatsApp, you don’t have to create a single-member group to send notes to yourself.
6. On Signal, the feature is available natively and you can jot down your thoughts and ideas while messaging with your friends and family.
7. Signal allows you to relay voice calls to its servers so your identity remains concealed from your contacts. The feature is somewhat similar to what a VPN does.
8. There are also emojis and some privacy stickers, but they are very limited in comparison to WhatsApp and Telegram.

To read more about what security these 3 provides check out this article from fractionalciso