Pavel Durov says WhatsApp backups lack end to end encryption
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is calling out WhatsApp for saying chats are end-to-end encrypted. He says that claim falls apart when messages get backed up to the cloud.
According to Durov, many private chats end up stored in cloud backups on Apple's or Google's servers without end-to-end encryption, which means they're not actually as private as users might think.
This prompted reactions from tech leaders, including Elon Musk, about how secure WhatsApp really is.
Durov says Telegram never disclosed messages
Durov points out that most people don't use WhatsApp's backup encryption feature, so their messages can be exposed if even one person in a chat skips it.
He also criticized WhatsApp for collecting user metadata and hinted that these details could leak too.
In contrast, Durov says Telegram has not disclosed user message content since its launch over a decade ago and is being positioned as a privacy-focused alternative in the messaging space.