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Side Note.

If you don’t care about your privacy and want to continue using Windows 11 with Telegram, this isn’t for you. If this is correct, please do not respond to the post. If you use Windows 11 and Telegram and are concerned about your privacy, I highly urge that you read this post. Thank you. If there is any incorrect information linked in this post, please let me know so that it can be updated consistently.

What’s been going on with Microsoft and Telegram?

Microsoft and Telegram collaborated, and Telegram is now a component of Copilot, which is extremely bad news for privacy. Microsoft is almost becoming another Facebook, given what they are doing with their copilot, which is being included in recent Windows 11 updates. More information about Copilot will be down below this post.

Telegram consistently claims to be “the best and most secure chatting app for privacy” and much more. We all know it’s a lie given the number of strange incidents that occur there and the association with Microsoft Copilot. Not only that but they have openly stated multiple times that “They need your data to ensure a secure experience”. Which is very suspicious. If you use Telegram on a daily basis, it might be time for you to switch.

What is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is an artificial intelligence function that, like Alexa, can assist you, but it is built into the Windows 11 operating system. It can communicate with you, hear you, and observe and hear everything you do. It can hear you ask a question, browse the internet, listen to your voice calls unless you turn off your computer, recording and monitoring everything you do. It knows everything. It also sends all of this data to Microsoft and the CIA. Which is extremely bad news for privacy. Microsoft is almost becoming another Facebook, given what they are doing with their copilot, which is being included in recent Windows 11 updates.

What do I need to do to get actual Privacy from now on?

Before you do anything else, I highly recommend that you buy a USB stick and switch to Linux. You have four distribution options to select from.

Linux Mint (2 gigs of ram, NIVIDIA and AMD supported)

Debian (2 gigs of ram, NIVIDIA and AMD supported)

Kubuntu (2-8 gigs of ram, NIVIDIA and AMD supported)

Pop OS (8 gigs of ram, NIVIDA and AMD supported)

Ubuntu (4 gigs of ram, AMD Supported)

  • I will say this about Ubuntu: it doesn’t work very well if you want to play games on it and you use NIVIDIA drivers. With NIVIDA drivers, it can work well for general use such as watching videos, making documents, and editing photos. However, gaming performance is not very good when using NIVIDA drivers on Ubuntu. My friend tested it out for me. Going all RED (AMD) is definitely the best option if you want to play games on Ubuntu.

These are definitely the best distributions for a beginner, however if you thoroughly understand linux and know how it works once you get used to it, you can finally try something like Arch, Fedora or NixOS.

If you want a alternative to Telegram, you have two options

Signal (Best Option)

Signal is the best alternative to Telegram, it has great end to end to end encryption, it’s open source, amazing screen sharing and voice calling, privacy, and it’s extremely private compared to telegram.

The only thing that Telegram has that’s better than Signal is better built in customization. However, aside from that, it still can’t beat Signal. If you have an Android phone, you can install custom clients with it, making it incredibly customizable, or you can even develop your own because the source code is open source; even at that point, Telegram cannot surpass Signal.

Telegram-FOSS (Maybe?) Telegram-FOSS is a Telegram fork that aims to remove Telegram’s spyware and data collection while increasing your privacy. However, it is only available on Android through the FDROID App Store, and keep in mind that I am not 100% certain that it will provide you with the finest privacy; use at your own risk.

Matrix (Not Recommended) I suppose Matrix is an additional choice for a Telegram substitute; but, in my opinion, it’s more of a messenger alternative. Although it’s fantastic for privacy, I don’t think it’s ready in terms of usability or user friendly. Matrix isn’t ideal for communities and isn’t very user-friendly. It’s more for corporations/software development teams who want a self hosted slack. Yes, Matrix is more private & secure then Telegram, and you don’t need to setup your own matrix server to use it. You can register on the public matrix server and message friends etc that way. Matrix just doesn’t advertise, it relies on clients & servers to do the advertising. The issue with that is the main client (Element) is only trying to appeal to corporations/non-tech savy people who can’t setup their own matrix server so the messaging is based around that. I still think Signal is easily your best alternative

My point is, if you value your privacy, you should quit Windows 11 and Telegram while you still can and try Linux and Signal; it will be well worth it. If there is any wrong information in this post, please notify me so that it can be changed, and if you have any questions, please contact me and I will gladly assist you.

  • save_vs_death [they/them]@hexbear.net
    English
    14·
    6 months ago

    After some very cursory research I see that copilot is just a chatbot on telegram. Copilot is not built-into telegram, but you can interface with Microsoft’s servers running copilot by “starting a conversation” with it. That does not mean Telegram now ships with Copilot. Believe you me, I have written chatbots for telegram and your installation of it does not ship with my crapware, telegram also doesn’t pay for my server costs, lmao.

    Telegram is still unsafe but for a lot of other different reasons. Others have already pointed out the problems Signal has. Matrix is simply not there yet, and it might never be. In reality very little of this matters because your friends will just continue using whatever spyware they were before, your chatgroup will not use your bespoke xmpp solution just to chat with you. Idk, send sensitive stuff over e-mail or something.

    • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      7·
      6 months ago

      Matrix is simply not there yet, and it might never be.

      Citation Needed

      It’s pretty damn good and element (the most popular client)is highly polished. At least it doesnt require a phone number or have ties to the NED (however small) like signal

        • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          2·
          6 months ago

          I see some things I have thoughts on, but most of this is “not an issue for users/maybe not even an issue for admins”

          • untrusted homeservers or clients running modified software might not honor deletions. This is a legitimate issue but its inherent to the federated model, and is just as bad or (actually) worse on Lemmy than it is on matrix, for example. They could do a better job of setting expectations for users regarding deletes, but it’s not like centralized, or worse proprietary, messaging systems don’t have deletion issues too, if somewhat reduced in scope.
          • compatibility issues between different homeserver implementations. This is a fuckup for sure, but it will eventually get worked out, and already is getting better as alternative homeservers get more development and usage
          • High profile public rooms subject to novel attacks. This seems bad but it seems like something that is getting better over time.
          • unauthenticated media downloads. I would be fine losing unauthenticated HTTP downloads of media, though it can be convenient for users ig (the amount of times I’ve gotten a discord attachment image link/embed is easily thousands, even when none of the conversations were happening on discord. though personally I always copy images themselves rather than just sharing the link).
          • The stuff about media “verification” (scanning) is something that applies to basically any self hosted anything that allows any uploads even incidentally, and is not a standard we hold other software to, except I guess commercial services of a certain size. CSAM scanning isn’t something you can really do as an individual selfhosting, and virus scanning is pretty heavy, though I’d ofc appreciate better integration of tooling for instances that need it. And liability for proxied content is a tradeoff, because if you don’t proxy content, you reduce privacy for users significantly by allowing any participating server to track them, not just their own homeserver. In practice I’m sure it could be a hazard, but if you aren’t actually storing the material just proxying, and respond to takedown requests if they are made, IMO you’re doing all that can be expected.

          The question is, are these bad enough issues to abandon Matrix, and what alternatives exist that solve these issues and don’t have other unacceptable tradeoffs?

      • drkt@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        6 months ago

        Matrix is an incredibly bloated protocol trying to do far more than it should. Try running a Matrix server, you’ll understand.

        • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          2·
          6 months ago

          I do run a matrix server. I have some qualms with it for sure, the resource consumption can be pretty crazy, and federation has some issues that other models don’t, and I wish the protocol were simpler, but saying it’s “simply not there yet/maybe never will be” doesn’t really capture any of my concerns. Its usable now, as a viable alternative to discord, telegram, signal, etc. regardless of issues. If there is a better alternative I’m open to that too. I’ve been meaning to try XMPP again but in the past I haven’t been a huge fan

          • drkt@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            2·
            6 months ago

            Well I for one have had nothing but trouble. The matrix.org instance is massive and laggy. The few private instances I tried weren’t federated as far and wide as I needed it to be. Self-hosting Synapse was miserable with federation turned on.

            I wish it was better

            • Chronicon [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
              1·
              6 months ago

              laggy? how would you even know? my most used account is on matrix.org and I’ve never noticed lag. I guess most of my communication is relatively asynchronous, not lightning speed back and forths with people, so I’d have no way of knowing if there was a second or two of lag. But typing notifications seem to be prompt.

              And self-hosting idk, besides not being able to host it on a super resource constrained machine, and the disk usage ballooning if you have users that join a bunch of massive public rooms or whatever, it’s been fine for me.

              I guess its probably highly dependent on your use case