Telegram’s Durov assures users their intimate images are secure

(SeaPRwire) –   The tech entrepreneur has alleged WhatsApp committed ‘consumer fraud’ related to its backup policies

Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, has accused WhatsApp of misleading users on privacy matters, contending that Telegram delivers stronger safeguards for sensitive content.

The Russian tech executive has repeatedly criticized the security framework of Meta-owned WhatsApp, dismissing claims that the app cannot access user communications.

In a series of posts published Sunday, Durov described WhatsApp’s assertion of “end-to-end encryption by default” as “a massive consumer fraud,” alleging that most private messages ultimately end up stored as unencrypted plain text in cloud backups hosted on Apple and Google servers.

“Factor in that WhatsApp stores and discloses information about who users chat with, and the situation becomes very concerning,” he wrote, further claiming that Apple and Google provide backed-up data from the service to third parties “thousands of times per year.”

Responding to a user who stated they only share intimate images via Telegram, Durov replied: “Thanks for the trust – your nudes are safe with us.”

Telegram, however, does not enable end-to-end encryption as a default setting. According to the company’s own official documentation, only its ‘Secret Chats’ feature offers full end-to-end protection, while standard messages are stored on its cloud servers. Critics have pointed to cloud backups as a key vulnerability for messaging privacy, as data held outside encrypted channels may be accessible via legal requests or data breaches.

Cybersecurity researchers note that while WhatsApp’s core messages are end-to-end encrypted, its reliance on optional cloud backups can weaken these protections, potentially exposing user data if extra security safeguards are not enabled.

Meta has long maintained that messages are protected with end-to-end encryption and cannot be accessed by the company. It also provides optional end-to-end encrypted backups for users who choose to turn the feature on.

In January, a major class-action lawsuit was filed against Meta Platforms in a US district court by an international group of plaintiffs from multiple countries, accusing the company of making false claims about the privacy of its WhatsApp service.

Durov has long criticized the platform as a “tool of surveillance,” urging users to avoid using it entirely, particularly after its 2014 acquisition by Meta, which was then known as Facebook. In 2022, he warned that vulnerabilities regularly found in the app were not accidental, but likely intentional backdoors.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone rejected the allegations, stating that any claim that WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is “categorically false and absurd,” and described the lawsuit as “a frivolous work of fiction.”