Is Telegram Actually Safe to Use in 2025?

It’s a question I get asked a lot by friends and colleagues: “Is Telegram actually safe?” For years, it’s been touted as the secure, privacy-focused alternative to mainstream messaging apps. But as we navigate 2025, the picture has become more complex. The platform has evolved, and so have the threats and a user’s reasonable expectation of privacy. So, let’s break down the realities of Telegram safety in 2025.

I’ve spent a good amount of time digging into the app’s features, its underlying technology, and its ever-changing policies. My goal isn’t to scare you away from it, but to give you a clear-eyed view so you can decide if it’s the right tool for your communication needs.

The Core of the Conversation: Encryption

When we talk about messaging safety, the first thing that usually comes to mind is encryption. This is where Telegram’s complexity—and the biggest misconception about its privacy—begins.

Cloud Chats vs. Secret Chats

Here’s the most crucial point to understand: not all Telegram chats are created equal.

• Cloud Chats: These are your standard, everyday chats on Telegram, including all group chats. They are encrypted between your device and Telegram’s servers (client-server encryption). This protects your messages from being snooped on by your internet provider, but it also means Telegram itself holds the keys. Because this data is stored in the cloud for your convenience to sync across devices, it is theoretically accessible to Telegram.
• Secret Chats: This is the feature that originally gave Telegram its reputation for high security. Secret Chats use end-to-end encryption (E2EE). This means only you and the recipient can read the messages. Not even Telegram can decrypt them.

The catch? You have to manually initiate a Secret Chat, they are only available for one-on-one conversations, and they don’t sync across your devices. By default, your conversations are not end-to-end encrypted.

How Does This Compare?

Competitors like Signal and even WhatsApp use the highly respected Signal Protocol to provide end-to-end encryption for all messages by default. From a pure privacy standpoint, this makes them fundamentally more secure for every conversation without requiring the user to take extra steps.

Your Data: What Does Telegram Collect?

Privacy isn’t just about the content of your messages. It’s also about the data the service provider collects about you. For a long time, Telegram was seen as a black box that shielded users. However, recent policy shifts have brought more transparency, and not all of it is reassuring.

A Shift in Policy

In a significant policy update, Telegram confirmed it will share user data with law enforcement agencies for a wider range of criminal investigations, not just terrorism cases as previously stated. This data is limited to your IP address and phone number, but that can be enough to identify you.

According to its own transparency reports, Telegram has acted on a growing number of these requests. This marks a clear move away from its former hardline stance on user privacy and brings it more in line with other major tech platforms.

What Telegram Collects:

This level of data collection is more than what is gathered by an app like Signal, which is designed from the ground up to collect the absolute minimum amount of user data. You can read Telegram’s full privacy policy on their official website.

Security Features and Potential Vulnerabilities

Beyond encryption and data policies, the overall security of the app is a key part of Telegram safety in 2025.

How You Can Protect Yourself

Telegram does offer a good set of tools to secure your account. It’s on you, the user, to enable and use them effectively.

• Two-Step Verification (2FA): This is probably the most important security feature you can enable. It requires a password in addition to the SMS code when you log in on a new device. This helps protect you from SIM swap attacks.
• Passcode Lock: You can set a local passcode (or use Touch/Face ID) to open the app, adding a layer of physical security if someone gets ahold of your device.
• Review Active Sessions: Regularly check which devices are logged into your account and log out any you don’t recognize.
• Be Wary of Scams: Like any popular platform, Telegram is a target for phishing attacks and malware. Hackers might impersonate support staff or send malicious links to try and hijack your account.

The Closed-Source Conundrum

While Telegram’s client-side apps are open-source, allowing researchers to inspect the code, its server-side code is proprietary and closed-source. This means we have to trust Telegram’s word about what happens on their servers, as there is no way for independent experts to fully verify it. This lack of transparency is a significant point of criticism from the cybersecurity community.

A Final Takeaway

So, after all this, is Telegram safe? The answer is a nuanced “it depends.”

If you need a fast, feature-rich messenger for large group chats, channels, and file sharing, and you understand its limitations, Telegram can be a great tool. It’s arguably more private than something like Facebook Messenger.

However, if your primary concern is maximum privacy and security for your one-on-one conversations, the reality of Telegram safety in 2025 is that it falls short of the standard set by other apps. The lack of default end-to-end encryption and the recent shifts in data sharing with authorities are serious considerations.

For truly sensitive communications, I would personally recommend using an application like Signal, which is built with a “privacy-first” philosophy. For everyday chatting, if you use Telegram, do so with your eyes open. Enable 2FA, use Secret Chats for anything sensitive, and understand what data you’re entrusting to the platform.