Signal tech is open source, can be checked and has been checked. I am pretty sure that if Whatsapp was lying about using the Signal encryption libraries, word would have leaked out of Whatsapp by now. On top of that, I would trust Moxie 100 times more than I would of the owner of Telegram.

Plus, the idea that Whatsapp is taking screen shots and sending it to Facebook is pretty silly. It would be really simple for them to have the messages copied; one going to true receiver and one going to the Facebook servers. There is no need for elaborate spying by Whatsapp, it would be really simple for them to spy on you if they wanted to.

* I am not calling the owner of Telegram dishonest, but in the Moxie vs Pavel Durov debate, I am going with Moxie.

[0]: my threat model sees Facebook and snooping kids as a bigger risk to me than NSA or FSB. It also says that if those guys come after me I've lost anyway.

That is not true, closed source does not mean you can't read the source code, last year (and i bet is still possible to do it today) i decompiled the apk into java source code, i remember i made it to confirm the telegram url block[1]. But the point is, if its possible to read the client source code, it should be possible to assure at least some level of security.

And yes, i always recommend whatsapp instead of telegram for family members because telegram doesn't have default e2e (i feel bad everytime i have to say this).

edit->for clarification, obviously i prefer to use a full open source end-to-end encrypted messenger

[1]http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/09/09/whatsapp-is-blocking...