Popular Private Messaging Apps Can Leak Your Location. Here’s How to Protect Yourself

End-to-end encrypted messaging apps are fantastic privacy tools that secure your communications and protect them from third-party spying. However, in certain circumstances they can pose a potential privacy concern because they share your Internet Protocol (IP) address with others.

This privacy issue is not limited to end-to-end encrypted messaging applications and affects many applications with voice calling functionality, but if you use an end-to-end encrypted application to maximize your privacy, this is something you are probably dealing with.

The problem arises from the way most messaging applications use peer-to-peer connections to improve call quality. Unfortunately, this improved call quality over these direct connections comes with the risk of your IP address being shared with other participants during voice and video calls.

Some messaging applications that may share your IP address with others include:

• Signal
• Telegram
• Threema
• X
• FaceTime
• Whatsapp
• Viber
• Meta Messenger

Risks when passing on your IP address to conversation partners

Your IP address reveals your general location and can also be used to create a profile of you.

Many applications, websites and online services store your IP address and associate it with other information they have about you. These apps, websites, and online services may and are likely to share your information with third parties (e.g., advertisers, data brokers, or law enforcement agencies). Even if they don’t share your data directly with third parties, your IP address and other information they have stored about you can be leaked or stolen.

Because advertisers, data brokers, law enforcement agencies, and malicious actors who obtain your data through data leaks or data breaches can collect your IP address and other data from multiple sources, they may use your IP address as an identifier that brings all of this information together and helps them create a comprehensive profile of you.

The risk of your IP address being shared and used for profiling when using messaging applications depends on your personal circumstances. If you communicate primarily with trusted friends and family members who already know who you are and where you are calling from, the risk of your IP address being shared with callers is probably low. However, if you are attempting to communicate under a pseudonym or anonymously and keeping your location and identity confidential is a high priority for you, the risk of revealing your IP address can be significant.

This is how you can hide your IP address during calls

1. 1. Use a VPN or Tor.

Virtual private networks and The Onion Router (Tor) hide your real IP address and prevent it from being spied on by messaging apps. Most VPNs mask all of your device’s traffic and, by default, protect you from IP address leaks from messaging applications. However, to protect yourself from IP address leaks from Messenger when using Tor, you need an implementation that routes all of your device’s traffic through the Tor network.

You can find some of the best VPN providers here.

To route all of your device’s traffic through Tor, you can do the following:

• Use a VPN that supports Tor connections (this feature is available with Proton VPN).
• Use Tails (The Amnesic Incognito Live System) on your desktop (this portable, open-source Linux distribution routes all your Internet traffic through Tor and blocks any applications that attempt to connect to the Internet without Tor).
• Use Orbot on your phone (this open source proxy routes all your phone traffic through Tor).

2. Use the IP address masking features of the messaging application.

Some messaging apps have optional features that mask your IP address by routing calls through their servers. Most messaging applications do not collect additional information when you enable this feature. However, you should always read an app’s privacy policy and documentation before enabling this feature to ensure that routing calls through the app’s servers does not result in additional data collection.

Additionally, many messaging applications use peer-to-peer connections only for certain types of calls and automatically route other types of calls through their servers, regardless of your settings. This limits the risk of your IP address being used for certain types of calls.

The following applications automatically route certain types of calls through their servers, regardless of your settings:

• Signal (calls from non-contacts are automatically routed through Signal’s servers)
• Telegram (calls from non-contacts are automatically routed via Telegram’s servers)
• Threema (calls from unverified contacts are automatically routed through Threema’s servers)
• WhatsApp (WhatsApp automatically routes all group calls through its servers and also automatically routes other calls through its servers if this offers better latency and quality than peer-to-peer)
• Viber (group calls are automatically routed through Viber’s servers)

Here’s how to enable IP masking in some of the most popular messaging applications:

Signal Desktop

Click Settings (gear icon) > Calls. Enable Always redirect.

Signal Mobile

Tap your profile avatar and select Settings > Privacy > Advanced. Enable Always divert calls.

Telegram

Click or tap Settings (gear icon) > Privacy and security > Calls. Set Peer-to-Peer to Never.

Threema

Click or tap Menu (the gear icon) > Settings > Threema Calls. Activate Always send calls through.

X

Click or tap Messages (the envelope icon) > Settings (the gear icon). Activate Increased Do Not Disturb.

Whatsapp

Click or tap Menu (the ⋮ icon) > Settings > Privacy > Advanced. Enable Protect IP address during calls.

Viber

Click or tap More > Settings > Privacy. Uncheck Use peer-to-peer.

Other ways to protect your privacy

Masking your IP address is just one of many ways to protect your privacy when using messaging apps. Signal has many other privacy features you can take advantage of. Telegram also offers many additional data protection functions.

No matter which messaging app you use, your IP address is just one of several identifiers that can reveal information about you. To limit the information that your messaging app and the people you communicate with can collect about you, you can use these principles to anonymize your online activities.

 

yogaesoteric
December 11, 2023