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Texting or E-mail: Which Gives You More Secure Communication?

Texting or E-mail: Which Gives You More Secure Communication?
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Texting or E-mail: Which Gives You More Secure Communication?

Texting or E-mail: Which Gives You More Secure Communication?

WhatsApp, text or email – which is the most secure option when your conversation really has to be locked down?

The recent private-messages-going-public news with Congress scouring the messages obtained from diplomats as part of its impeachment inquiry again has private exchanges top of mind and offers a good jumping-off point to discuss what options you have with the tools you use most.

There are varying degrees of privacy or protection among the chat and communication platforms. Ultimately, there are precautions you can take.

Encryption, says Apple on its website, is used to protect trillions of online transactions every day, for shopping, paying bills and communicating with programs like its own iMessage or FaceTime, or Facebook's Whatsapp. Encryption, says Apple, "turns your data into indecipherable text."

And this has been a hot topic in Washington. Attorney General William Barr wrote to Facebook, asking it to change its encryption policy for Whatsapp.

"We must find a way to balance the need to secure data with public safety and the need for law enforcement to access the information they need to safeguard the public, investigate crimes, and prevent future criminal activity," Barr said.

Facebook opposes Barr's request.

Start with e-mail

Messages written via popular web programs like Google’s Gmail, Microsoft’s free version of Outlook or Yahoo Mail are not encrypted by default, nor is government or corporate e-mail. (There are ways to send encrypted Gmail, but only to other Gmail users, via a third party plug-in.) The free webmail programs are both easy to track, both by subpoena and by the companies offering the free tools, says Micah Lee, director of information security for the Intercept website. “E-mail is the easiest to spy on,” he says.

That said, there are a handful of startups offering encrypted e-mail, including Switzerland-based Proton, while Microsoft offers the ability to encrypt Outlook (for paying subscribers), but it's complicated. You essentially turn it into gibberish and send a "digital key" to the recipient to unlock it and make it readable.

So you want to turn to the phone and secure text messages

“But you shouldn’t use a company device,” says Lee. “Many of these have corporate spyware and can take screenshots of what you’re doing. Only use your personal phone."

If your personal phone is a Samsung, it offers a feature to encrypt data after it's been generated and have it stored on an external SD card for Galaxy phones. To use this feature for text messages, download the Messages app for Android and move them there. Know that once you encrypt the data, you're able to decrypt the data only on the same device. Samsung notes that you won't be able to read it anywhere else.

Additionally, the iPhone has a feature that can prevent outside forces like law enforcement or the government from using a USB device to tap into your phone and grab your unencrypted data. Go to Settings, Touch ID & Passcode, and scroll to the bottom for USB Accessories, to click off and prevent USB accessories from connecting when the iPhone has been locked for more than an hour.

Traditional SMS text messages on your phone

Texts sent on the iPhone, the most used digital device in the United States, to another iPhone, are encrypted, and thus, wouldn't be able to be read without decoding, according to Apple. The company says text messages stored on its iCloud service will be encrypted as well, as long as the user has opted in for two-factor authentication sign-ins. Note that if the person on the other end doesn't have an iPhone, the message is no longer encrypted. (Android phones don’t encrypt SMS messages by default, says Lee, but as we noted, backing them to an external card and opt to encrypt the data manually.)

Signal, Wire, Rakuten Viber and Whatsapp are popular apps to look to for secure encrypted written and spoken conversations. Yes, the same Whatsapp that’s owned by Facebook, the company that's apologized many times for security breaches.

Because Whatsapp is the most popular chat program in the world, used by over 1 billion users, the odds are high that the person you want to speak to currently uses it. That's a huge bonus for being able to communicate freely and privately, says Lee. And it makes a big deal on its website about how messages are encrypted and not read by company officials.

However, Facebook does have access to your metadata and can determine who you spoke to and when, adds Lee.

—The app Signal does not have Facebook ownership issues and is considered the go-to app for the most secure form of communication. Even Edward Snowden, the former U.S. whistleblower who has been hiding in Russia since 2013, offers a testimonial on Signal's home page.

"Signal messages and calls are always end-to-end encrypted and painstakingly engineered to keep your communication safe," the company says. "We can't read your messages or see your calls, and no one else can either."

Signal says it doesn't accept advertising and is supported by grants and donations.

Facebook Messenger

These messages are not encrypted by default, but they can be. Facebook offers a feature called “Secret Conversation" for private chatting, but both sides have to turn it on for it to work. (Click the word "Secret" at the top right side of the screen on iPhone or the lock icon in the same place on Android.)

Authenticity can be proven during the conversation by both sides checking their digital ID keys (stored under the person's names) and making sure they match.

But privacy is in the eye of the beholder, as the person on the other end of this encrypted conversation can easily make a screenshot and share it with the world.

Still, Facebook says the messages are intended "just for you and the other person – not anyone else, including us."

USA TODAY

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Varieties

17th Century Wreck Reappears from Stockholm Deep

The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
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17th Century Wreck Reappears from Stockholm Deep

The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
The remains of a 17th century shipwreck is pictured after resurfacing in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

A 17th century Swedish Navy shipwreck buried underwater in central Stockholm for 400 years has suddenly become visible due to unusually low Baltic Sea levels.

The wooden planks of the ship's well-preserved hull have since early February been peeking out above the surface of the water off the island of Kastellholmen, providing a clear picture of its skeleton.

"We have a shipwreck here, which was sunk on purpose by the Swedish Navy," Jim Hansson, a marine archeologist at Stockholm's Vrak - Museum of Wrecks, told AFP.

Hansson said experts believe that after serving in the navy, the ship was sunk around 1640 to use as a foundation for a new bridge to the island of Kastellholmen.

Archeologists have yet to identify the exact ship, as it is one of five similar wrecks lined up in the same area to form the bridge, all dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

"This is a solution, instead of using new wood you can use the hull itself, which is oak" to build the bridge, Hansson said.

"We don't have shipworm here in the Baltic that eats the wood, so it lasts, as you see, for 400 years," he said, standing in front of the wreck.

Parts of the ship had already broken the surface in 2013, but never before has it been as visible as it is now, as the waters of the Baltic Sea reach their lowest level in about 100 years, according to the archaeologist.

"There has been a really long period of high pressure here around our area in the Nordics. So the water from the Baltic has been pushed out to the North Sea and the Atlantic," Hansson explained.

A research program dubbed "the Lost Navy" is underway to identify and precisely date the large number of Swedish naval shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the Baltic.

Varieties

China Has Slashed Air Pollution, but the ‘War’ Isn’t Over 

This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
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China Has Slashed Air Pollution, but the ‘War’ Isn’t Over 

This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 11, 2026 shows pedestrians walking along an overpass as traffic snarls in Beijing. (AFP)

Fifteen years ago, Beijing's Liangma riverbanks would have been smog-choked and deserted in winter, but these days they are dotted with families and exercising pensioners most mornings.

The turnaround is the result of a years-long campaign that threw China's state power behind policies like moving factories and electrifying vehicles, to improve some of the world's worst air quality.

Pollution levels in many Chinese cities still top the World Health Organization's (WHO) limits, but they have fallen dramatically since the "airpocalypse" days of the past.

"It used to be really bad," said Zhao, 83, soaking up the sun by the river with friends.

"Back then when there was smog, I wouldn't come out," she told AFP, declining to give her full name.

These days though, the air is "very fresh".

Since 2013, levels of PM2.5 -- small particulate that can enter the lungs and bloodstream -- have fallen 69.8 percent, Beijing municipality said in January.

Particulate pollution fell 41 percent nationwide in the decade from 2014, and average life expectancy has increased 1.8 years, according to the University of Chicago's Air Quality Life Index (AQLI).

China's rapid development and heavy coal use saw air quality decline dramatically by the 2000s, especially when cold winter weather trapped pollutants close to the ground.

There were early attempts to tackle the issue, including installing desulphurization technology at coal power plants, while factory shutdowns and traffic control improved the air quality for events like the 2008 Olympics.

But the impact was short-lived, and the problem worsened.

- Action plan -

Public awareness grew, heightened by factors like the US embassy in Beijing making monitoring data public.

By 2013, several international schools had installed giant inflatable domes around sport facilities to protect students.

That year, multiple episodes of prolonged haze shrouded Chinese cities, with one in October bringing northeastern Harbin to a standstill for days as PM2.5 levels hit 40 times the WHO's then-recommended standard.

The phrase "I'm holding your hand, but I can't see your face" took off online.

Later that year, an eight-year-old became the country's youngest lung cancer patient, with doctors directly blaming pollution.

As concerns mounted, China's ruling Communist Party released a ten-point action plan, declaring "a war against pollution".

It led to expanded monitoring, improved factory technology and the closure or relocation of coal plants and mines.

In big cities, vehicles were restricted and the groundwork was laid for widespread electrification.

For the first time, "quantitative air quality improvement goals for key regions within a clear time limit" were set, a 2016 study noted.

These targets were "the most important measure", said Bluetech Clean Air Alliance director Tonny Xie, whose non-profit worked with the government on the plan.

"At that time, there were a lot of debates about whether we can achieve it, because (they were) very ambitious," he told AFP.

The policy targeted several key regions, where PM2.5 levels fell rapidly between 2013 and 2017, and the approach was expanded nationwide afterwards.

"Everybody, I think, would agree that this is a miracle that was achieved in China," Xie said.

China's success is "entirely" responsible for a decline in global pollution since 2014, AQLI said last summer.

- 'Low-hanging fruits' gone -

Still, in much of China the air remains dangerous to breathe by WHO standards.

This winter, Chinese cities, including financial hub Shanghai, were regularly among the world's twenty most polluted on monitoring site IQAir.

Linda Li, a running coach who has lived in both Beijing and Shanghai, said air quality has improved, but she still loses up to seven running days to pollution in a good month.

A top environment official last year said China aimed to "basically eliminate severe air pollution by 2025", but the government did not respond when AFP asked if that goal had been met.

Official 2025 data found nationwide average PM2.5 concentrations decreased 4.4 percent on-year.

Eighty-eight percent of days featured "good" air quality.

However, China's current definition of "good" is PM2.5 levels of under 35 micrograms per cubic meter, significantly higher than the WHO's recommended five micrograms.

China wants to tighten the standard to 25 by 2035.

The last five years have also seen pollution reduction slow.

The "low-hanging fruits" are gone, said Chengcheng Qiu from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Qiu's research suggests pollution is shifting west as heavy industry relocates to regions like Xinjiang, and that some cities in China have seen double-digit percentage increases in PM2.5 in the last five years.

"They can't just stop all industrial production. They need to find cleaner ways to produce the output," Qiu said.

There is hope for that, given China's status as a renewable energy powerhouse, with coal generation falling in 2025.

"Cleaner air ultimately rests on one clear direction," said Qiu.

"Move beyond fossil fuels and let clean energy power the next stage of development."

Varieties

Sydney Man Jailed for Mailing Reptiles in Popcorn Bags 

Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)
Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)
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Sydney Man Jailed for Mailing Reptiles in Popcorn Bags 

Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)
Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania. (AFP file)

A Sydney man who tried to post native lizards, dragons and other reptiles out of Australia in bags of popcorn and biscuit tins has been sentenced to eight years in jail, authorities said Tuesday.

The eight-year term handed down on Friday was a record for wildlife smuggling, federal environment officials said.

A district court in Sydney gave the man, 61-year-old Neil Simpson, a non-parole period of five years and four months.

Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from seized parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania, the officials said in a statement.

The animals -- including shingleback lizards, western blue-tongue lizards, bearded dragons and southern pygmy spiny-tailed skinks -- were posted in 15 packages between 2018 and 2023.

"Lizards, skinks and dragons were secured in calico bags. These bags were concealed in bags of popcorn, biscuit tins and a women's handbag and placed inside cardboard boxes," the statement said.

The smuggler had attempted to get others to post the animals on his behalf but was identified by government investigators and the New South Wales police, it added.

Three other people were convicted for taking part in the crime.

The New South Wales government's environment department said that "the illegal wildlife trade is not a victimless crime", harming conservation and stripping the state "and Australia of its unique biodiversity".