“If you think instant messaging services are private, you are in for a big surprise …
… The reality is that our communications are under constant threat from cybercriminals and spying by state authorities. Young people, the most prolific sharers of personal details and photos over apps like Snapchat, are especially at risk,” concluded Sherif Elsayed-Ali, the head of Amnesty International’s Technology and Human Rights Team, after ranking 11 of the most popular messaging apps in a Message Privacy Ranking.
In this ranking, both Snapchat and Skype received some of the lowest scores. Snapchat only got 26 out of 100 on the organization’s scale, whereas Skype received 40 out of 100. This is due to the fact that end-to-end encryption is not used, although it is highly recommendet to do so, according to Amnesty.
The report explaines that “The apps were marked on their use of encryption and privacy safeguards, as well as how well they advised their users of the app’s security, and whether they released details of government requests for user data.” Furthermore, Sherif Elsayed-Ali stated that “It is up to tech firms to respond to well-known threats to their users’ privacy and freedom of expression, yet many companies are falling at the first hurdle by failing to provide an adequate level of encryption”.
Therefore, it is to note that although they are the world-leading messaging applications, Skype and Snapchat are among the least secure on the market, according to Amnesty.
