For everyone saying Telegram/Durov will just get leaned on by Russia:
1. Durov got ousted out of his own company (VK, basically Facebook in Russia) by Putin. He then decided to live in exile in Germany
2. Telegram is incorporated in Germany (which has some of the toughest privacy laws in the world), not Russia
3. Their keys are segmented and hosted in different jurisdictions, that are picked to be likely antithetical to each other. This means an adversary has to go through multiple legal systems, and power blocs (China, EU, N. America) can’t just use their regional sway to force key collection.
If there is one thing you can dislike Telegram for, its that they rolled MTProto instead of something more default. But in terms of personel, legal and UI/UX, they’re golden.
Does Durov have family living in Russia? If he does, there's always a way to lean on him if Putin decides it could be of value to the national interests.
I think so yes, but by that logic you cannot even trust Open Whisper Systems (who provide the encryption for WhatsApp, Signal, and Facebook Messenger). I mean, with that high stakes there is big enough incentive for global temporary cooperation among some intelligence agencies to lean on Moxie (or someone else’s) family.
Edit: not meant as a whataboutism, Russia would certainly be more aggressive in doing so, and Durov is an easier target.
OWS does not provide the encryption for those services, they just designed the protocol and helped them implement it. I don't mean to be pedantic, but words matter in this circumstance.
1. Durov got ousted out of his own company (VK, basically Facebook in Russia) by Putin. He then decided to live in exile in Germany
2. Telegram is incorporated in Germany (which has some of the toughest privacy laws in the world), not Russia
3. Their keys are segmented and hosted in different jurisdictions, that are picked to be likely antithetical to each other. This means an adversary has to go through multiple legal systems, and power blocs (China, EU, N. America) can’t just use their regional sway to force key collection.
If there is one thing you can dislike Telegram for, its that they rolled MTProto instead of something more default. But in terms of personel, legal and UI/UX, they’re golden.