If you have privacy concerns regarding Telegram, you can read our guide on how to delete your Telegram account and avoid leaks. Although there is a way to successfully use Telegram to protect your messages and ensure no third parties see them, you could also be inadvertently exposing your communications (more on that later).
From deleting your Telegram account entirely to ways in which you can avoid chat leaks and protect your privacy, we’ve covered everything you need to know below.
Is Telegram Private?
It’s well-known that many people and groups use Telegram as their preferred communication platform since it uses client-client encryption. What this means is that your conversations are not backed up or stored on third-party software. For this reason, journalists, human rights activists, and political groups use Telegram to secretly communicate without fear of government organizations viewing their conversations.
However, users need to select the ‘Secret chats’ option to enjoy this advanced encryption. Without doing so, they won’t enjoy the end-to-end client encryption by default and will instead communicate on regular ‘Cloud chats.’ Cloud chats are still encrypted – however, they are backed up on Telegram’s servers, meaning your communications could still be viewed by Telegram or anyone else with access to the company’s servers.
How to Delete Your Telegram Account
If you’re concerned about your safety and privacy on Telegram, you can easily delete your account by following the steps below.
1. Log into your account
You cannot delete Telegram in the app, so the first thing you need to do is go to my.telegram.org/auth and sign in with your mobile phone number. You’ll then be sent a confirmation code to your mobile number, which you need to enter on your browser.
2. Enter your phone number and confirm deletion
You’ll then need to re-enter your phone number and a reason for why you want to delete your account. You’ll then confirm your choice via a pop-up. Once you’ve done so, your account will be deleted.
If I Stop Using Telegram, Will My Account Get Deleted?
No, if you randomly stop using Telegram, your account won’t automatically delete itself. However, there is an option to set up account deletion if you stop using the service for a certain amount of time. You can enable this by visiting the ‘Settings’ area in your Telegram account. In the ‘Advanced’ area, you can set up the ‘Delete my account if away for’ feature and choose for your account to be deleted entirely if you don’t use Telegram within a certain time period.
How to Avoid Telegram Leaks
If you don’t want to delete your Telegram account entirely, but you want to avoid your conversations being viewed by others or saved to servers, you can still do so. All you have to do is enable secret chats, and all of your communications will remain private since they will be secured with end-to-end encryption.
Is Telegram Safe to Use?
Telegram has been exploited in the past by cybercriminals, who have managed to spread malware to users’ systems via the app. For this reason, along with valid privacy concerns, users are considering removing Telegram from their devices.
Moreover, due to Telegram’s secret conversation option, dangerous individuals have used the platforms, including terrorist groups. Telegram has even been banned in some countries due to fears it promotes illegal and harmful actions such as terrorist attacks.
Overall, Telegram is as safe as the next communications platform. Cybercriminals with malicious software could also target Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger. However, Whatsapp and Messenger back up messages sent on their platforms, meaning that anything you send won’t be totally private.
Hi, I'm Madeleine. I'm a British writer with a global background, currently based in the UK.
I have always been interested in the online world and how it connects people worldwide. My keen interest in the internet led me to ...
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