In the world of the rapid outburst of technology, there are thousands of mediums and applications, with which you can easily connect to your family and friends living abroad or in a distant place. But are you doing it securely? Is there any privacy concern? Many of these apps are phishing scams, which can intrude inside your personal information and can easily collect your passwords, credit/debit card credentials, and bank account information, even your digital signature. Even while being productive during stay at home, security concerns are legit. So let us find out about the top five mediums to connect distant family and friends securely and maintain your overall privacy.
WhatsApp is an app popular worldwide for its strict privacy policy. All the calls and messages of the app are end-to-end encrypted, and there is no way someone can intrude inside your account unless they have access to your phone and number. The functions are free of cost which makes it an easy and reliable app for chatting, calling, or sending any other files in an instant. The functions are very simple to work with. The fact that it does not have advertisements makes it a lot more relaxing to use which just adds to its benefits. Also, there is a desktop version.
Due to having access to the phone’s contacts, it can tell how many and which of your friends are using the app. This makes it convenient to text them right away without having to go through the hassle of searching for their number. Henceforth, due to its top-notch features and privacy, WhatsApp is one of the most user-friendly mediums to connect distant family and friends.
Telegram Messenger App
If you like to send photos and want to keep the overall quality of your photo (pixels. aspect ratio, size, etc) intact, telegram is the medium. This medium is also highly encrypted and you can use it without any privacy concern. Telegram can easily lock your conversation to maintain privacy and can hide your “last seen” from specific people. You can also edit photos with the inbuilt Telegram photo editor without losing the quality of the photos. Also, you can terminate active sessions and self-destruct messages on secret chat. Telegram will add secure team video calling by the end of this year, so this app can make your life easier.
Signal Messaging App
To date, Signal is the most secure messaging app for its three important functions. Firstly, it is an open-source app and has the strongest end-to-end encryption by default. Secondly, the app keeps no user records, doesn’t keep any message metadata, and does not use the cloud to back up messages and self destructs them. Finally, a lock pin is there on Signal itself and no messages appear on your lock screen. If you want a highly secure and private conversation, or want to send passwords, bank details, or any other transactional data which are vulnerable, using this app is a must. Therefore, Signal is one of the most secure and private mediums to connect distant family and friends.
Skype
Skype is one of the most used and oldest mediums to connect distant family and friends. An exclusive function of Skype is that, with Skype Premium subscription, you can access calls between Skype and mobile phones/landline numbers. Also, you can make online audio calls and video calls with up to 25 Skype users at a time, free of cost. The premium account is also very cheap and you can easily subscribe to it with several monthly or yearly packages to call your distant family and friends. Video calls without interruption are the best feature of Skype. Sending files through Skype is secure and has high-end encryption to prevent eavesdropping from malicious users. It is also very user friendly and people who are a bit less tech-savvy can use it easily.
Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger is holistically not only one of the mediums to connect distant family and friends. It is also a place of entertainment. You can play games, send gifs, send thousands of free stickers, even send and request money in encrypted and pre-protected modes through it. It has lots of exceptional features and they are getting updated every now and then. You can even chat with bots through Facebook Messenger. Messenger is a very safe medium to connect with your family and friends, and the Facebook team is working constantly to update its features and privacy. Other features of Facebook Messenger are, using extensions of multiple media to share news and other items, sending instant voicemails, creating events and reminders, and many more.
So these are our top five most secure mediums to connect distant family and friends. Using these won’t hamper your privacy and you can have a tension-free user experience. Let us know your feedback on using these mediums in the comment section below.
