The Internet has transformed the way we used to communicate with people in our day to day lives. Waiting for days to receive a reply to a message is a thing of the past.
Now, many dedicated messaging apps let you connect with friends, or family, or colleagues instantly, no matter which device or social media platform you are using. And with the expanding reach of smartphones, online messaging has become an integral part of our lives.
From waking up in the morning to sleeping at night, we keep updating and sharing our status with others over these apps.
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Since this communication happens in a virtual world, hackers can easily target you that could put your privacy at risk. But there are some essential steps you can take to protect yourself against intrusion by hackers. Keep reading this informative messaging privacy guide to learn more about them.
Generate Strong Passwords
Always create a strong password that is hard to crack. You can do this by keeping it a mix of numbers, letters, and special characters. Also, be wary of using the same password for two different messaging apps. Some messaging apps provide two-factor authentication that you should use to enhance your privacy.
Know Your Circle
To avoid misuse of the information you share via messaging, add only those people in your contacts who you know personally. Consider changing your privacy settings by choosing who can send you messages or view your posts. Doing so will save you from getting annoying notifications from unknown persons all day.
Update App Regularly
Most of the messaging apps release security updates at regular intervals. Keep an eye on update alerts sent to you by the app developers and download them. They can improve your privacy when messaging. Many user surveys confirm that most privacy breaches occur due to not installing security updates.
Encrypted Messaging App
Knowingly or unknowingly, many of us share sensitive information such as credit card numbers or passwords via messaging. So, we highly recommend you to use an encrypted messaging app such as WhatsApp, Signal, or Facebook Messenger that provides end-to-end encryption to secure your messages.
Make Messages Disappear
Recently, few apps, including WhatsApp, have introduced a feature that enables users to set a time after which the message they have sent to a particular contact will expire. It is useful in cases when you have lost your phone accidentally or it has been stolen.
These are some very popular tried and tested methods to maintain privacy when messaging online. Of these, using an encrypted messaging app and making your messages disappear at a set time is near to foolproof. Though it is not an inclusive list, by sticking to the measures we have mentioned here, you can protect your privacy.