Telegram is one of the most widely used instant messaging applications worldwide. This application not only has greater privacy and security than other competitors like WhatsApp, but it also has many very interesting additional functions, such as the possibility of creating bots to automate certain tasks, more options to chat with our contacts and much more. One aspect that we must take into account is that if you do not configure the application correctly, it may not be as private as we would like. Today at RedesZone we are going to explain all the privacy and security options of Telegram, so that you can use it with the greatest possible privacy and security.

Privacy options you must configure

When we become an account on Telegram, we can register it with a username ( nick ) and also use our real phone number for our contacts to find us. The first thing we will be able to configure in Telegram is our profile, which is public if we do not make certain settings in the privacy section:

Profile photo: This profile photo can be seen by all the contacts who have our username or telephone number, even if we do not have them as contacts. Through the configuration options section, we can limit that only our contacts can see this profile picture.
Biography: This information that you put in the biography will be seen by everyone, whether they are contacts or not. In this case it is not possible to hide the biography from only the contacts, so you must take it into account and not put relevant personal information. You can put a small description but without giving any important information, because anyone with your username ( nick ) or phone will be able to see it.

If we go to the « sectionAdjustments» we will be able to see a section called «Privacy and security«. This is where we are going to be able to configure each and every one of the parameters related to our privacy and account security, It is the most important part and we must configure it correctly to avoid any risk.

Below, you can see the settings that we have applied to keep our security and privacy at the highest level, however, we will explain in detail all the functions, so that values if in your case it is worth configuring a certain parameter.

Blocked users

If we ever receive anonymous messages from a certain user, we can easily block it without any problem, in fact, We could also block any user we have in the contact book so that they cannot communicate with us. If we block a user, they will not be able to speak to us, add us to groups, see the profile photos that we have configured, nor will they be able to see the connection status, the last time we connected or if we are online at a certain moment.

If you have a user who harasses you, the best thing you can do is block that contact directly, so that they cannot do anything or see any information about our Telegram account.

Phone number

In this menu we can configure if we want someone to see our phone number. In this menu we have two options:

Who can see the number: This option allows us all users with the username or only your contacts to see the phone number associated with that Telegram account. For maximum security, it is recommended to always configure it in « Nobody », so that nobody can obtain our phone number from the Telegram username.
Who can find you by the number: If a user puts your phone number in the contact finder, your contact will come out directly to chat. If we configure it in « all » this means that anyone with your phone number will be able to locate you. If you configure it in « My contacts », then only the contacts you have configured can do it.
Exceptions: the application also allows us to add exceptions to the settings that we have configured at the top, in case we want someone, even if they are not our contact, can see our number or find us. Groups can also be added in addition to the users we want.

It would be desirable for Telegram to incorporate the possibility of choosing « No one » in the « section who can find you by your number », not even your own contacts could. Let's imagine you have a work contact added to your schedule, and this contact could locate you on Telegram and start talking to you. It would be ideal to separate this configuration, because not everyone on the agenda is family or friends. Also, that contact could see our biography that we have configured, and also the profile photos easily.

Last time and online

This feature is essential for greater privacy, and that no one can see when we are in contact or when it was the last time we connected. In this case Telegram allows us three different configurations: all, my contacts and nobody. To have maximum privacy we can choose « Nobody », but then we will not be able to see the state of last time or online of our contacts, it is something that you must take into account.

If you select « My contacts », only your mobile contacts will be able to see this information.

Of course, in this menu you will also be able to configure the exceptions that you want. For example, you could select « No one » and then add several exceptions so that your closest contacts do see this information.

Photos and videos of profile

In this case the application allows us to select between « All » or « My contacts », it does not allow us to select the option of « No one » so that absolutely no one can see our profile picture. If we don't want anyone to see our profile picture, then what we can do is not put a profile picture in our account.

Of course, we have the possibility to add exceptions, both to allow them to be seen and not to allow them to be seen. If you want maximum security and that nobody sees your profile picture, then the best thing you can do is directly not put any photos in the profile photo section.

Calls

In this menu we can limit who can call us through Telegram, in this case we do have all the options available such as « All », « My contacts » and also « Nobody ». Of course, we will be able to add exceptions both to allow these calls and to deny these calls. If we choose « All » and we don't want certain contacts to call, then we have to register them in the « Do not allow » section, and if we select « No one » then we have to add some contact in the « Allow » section.

Finally, we have the possibility of using peer-to-peer communication without going through Telegram's servers, but we will be able to configure it without problems so that all voice traffic passes through the Telegram servers.

Groups and channels

If you hate that some of your and even unknown contacts add you to SPAM groups or channels, then this is the configuration you have to do. We have two options, that anyone can add to a group or channel, or that only our contacts can add to these groups. The application also gives us the option to add exceptions, both allow and not allow, to have greater versatility.

It would be desirable for the application to also incorporate the option of « No one » so that no one can add us to any group or channel, so we will not have to configure the exceptions of « not allow » manually, since it takes much longer.

Security options available

Telegram allows us to configure some very interesting security-related options, for example, we will be able to configure a lock code to open the application. If we want to block the app, we simply have to click on the padlock button that will appear on top of the chats, with the aim of « locking » the app until we unlock it in order to use it.

Here we can activate a code to unlock the app, In our opinion, considering that currently we all use biometrics to access the smartphone, or a password, PIN or pattern, it is not entirely necessary to activate this configuration, however, It is one more layer of security in case someone enters our smartphone, since they will not be able to access Telegram if they do not know this unlock code.

This application also allows us to add a two-step authentication password. Even if we correctly verify our account when logging in from another device, it is mandatory to put the verification password in two steps if we want to log in. This security measure is very important to prevent someone from taking full control of our Telegram account. Other messaging applications like WhatsApp have also incorporated it, to prevent or mitigate account theft.

In this same section we will also be able to see all the devices where we have logged in with our account. We will appear both the current device that we are using, as well as the other devices that we have used in the past and that have the active session, for example, we have logged in on various smartphones and in the web browsers of different computers:

For security reasons, all sessions will be closed automatically if they do not have activity in 6 months, although this parameter is also configurable in order to adapt to our needs.

Other privacy and security options

At the bottom of the « Privacy and Security » section we will be able to access other configuration options:

Delete account: If we do not use the account for a certain time, we can ask that the account be automatically deleted. For example, we can put a time of 1 year of inactivity. This process is irreversible, our account will be deleted along with all the messages and contacts we have.
Bot and websites: in these options we have the possibility of eliminating any payment and shipping data that we have configured, in addition, We can also see all the websites where we have logged in with the messaging platform. This does not need any kind of configuration.
Contactos: aquí podemos eliminar los contactos sincronizados con la plataforma, elegir si queremos sincronizar los contactos actuales e incluso que nos sugiera contactos frecuentes. Si quieres hacer «limpieza» de contactos, primero debes quitar la sincronización de contactos y posteriormente eliminarlos, porque sino se volverán a sincronizar automáticamente.

Finally, we have two other additional options related to secret chats. In this case we have:

Preview of maps: we can choose between « Telegram », Google or none.
Links preview: we can enable or disable.

An important aspect is that the app does not store any type of data about the links we send, we must remember that this only applies to secret chats.

Conclusions

Telegram has a large number of configuration options to increase our privacy on the instant messaging platform, it is highly recommended that you follow our recommendations for maximum privacy. If you want to remain anonymous enough, our recommendation is that you do not put any profile photos or biography, in addition, do not add your phone number or links to the app profile with the username. Finally, to have maximum privacy, also value blocking the last connection time or if you are online.

Regarding the security of the application, our recommendation is that you activate the verification in two steps, yes or yes, to avoid thefts of accounts. You should also check which computers you have logged in to, and disconnect it if it is no longer in use, without the need for the 6 months that we have configured.