Messenger apps offer a convenient way to catch up with friends, families, and colleagues without having to pick up your phone and make a phone call. But there are also quite a few of them to choose from, which means they can leave you guessing when it comes to which offer the most secure, private connection — and which are not to be trusted. Since you probably spend a good part of your day communicating via one or more messenger apps, we asked tech experts to reveal the one messenger app you should delete immediately on your iPhone. And, surprisingly, many of them had the same exact response.
Facebook Messenger
Its cousin, Facebook, comes under constant scrutiny for the way that it handles user data. But Facebook Messenger is among the worst messenger apps if your goal is to ensure your messages are secure and private.
“While most messenger apps like Whatsapp offer their users end-to-end encryption, the problem with Facebook Messenger is that its users aren’t afforded the same benefit, which means that they don’t have private and secure communication,” says Eden Cheng, co-founder of PeopleFinderFree.
Tech Expert Robert Stevens, founder and chief editor at whichmountsubwoofer.com, agrees: “A lot has been said about Facebook, the social media behemoth, and how it exploits your data,” Stevens says. “If you’re a regular user of Facebook, your laptop or desktop may be the safest place for it. You may conserve both battery life and data by turning off the app on your phone. When it comes to its Messenger app, you should uninstall it completely from your iPhone. Facebook Messenger, unlike other encrypted messaging apps, does not use end-to-end encryption by default.On Facebook Messenger, users can send hidden messages to another party, but only after starting a secret discussion. Other messaging apps, such as Signal, always use end-to-end encryption.”
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Even though Facebook has been around for a long time now, Cheng cautions that any platform that has yet to be secured with this layer of protection needs to be treated with caution. “Also, another issue with this app is the fact that the parent company Facebook or Meta (as it goes by now) is still a data security risk, as the company has a long-standing history of mishandling data,” Cheng adds. “For instance, back in April, the personal information of over 500 million Facebook users was discovered on an online hacking forum. This makes for a good reminder that the company behind this app is a data machine, and it's best to secure your private data by not giving it up, to begin with.”
