Messengers are a key tool in modern business management. However, using public services like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Teams can increase privacy risks. Are you really sure your messenger does not leak your messages, photos, or other data without you knowing? Are you really in control of the information shared online?
Why public messengers may not meet business security requirements
- Message history is stored with the cloud provider. A security breach at a cloud provider may expose sensitive business information, depending on how the service stores and protects user data. This happened with Discord, Signal, and other similar public messengers.
- Metadata is available to a messenger’s owner. Even if messages are encrypted and unavailable to a server’s owner, there is still information about conversation details: who, where, when, and with whom. This data is used for analysis and ad personalization. There is a reason why Meta purchased WhatsApp — the main value was primarily in the big user database.
- An account block can cancel your access to history and contacts. Even if the block was a mistake, it is almost impossible to get your access back. My personal experience with Skype proves it: the account was blocked because of a “rule violation,” which left me with no access to my message history. And in Teams, I can’t use my account, and my requests about unblocking do not do anything.
- Blocking a messenger on the governmental level. You will lose all data and contacts in one moment.
As a result, businesses lose data and contacts with their customers, and they can’t control it.
MyChat: business messenger that works for you only
MyChat is a self-hosted corporate messenger that keeps messages, files, and user accounts on your company’s own infrastructure, without relying on a third-party cloud messaging service.
Important notice: you do not have to believe everything developers say. In the case of MyChat, you can check everything on your own:
- Deploy MyChat in a closed network (LAN) or in a corporate VPN network.
- Use any network analyzer, for example, Wireshark, and make sure that MyChat does not “give away” data.
- Check if the data is really encrypted and how exactly.
- You can do the same with other messengers. The main difference is that you would always see a constant connection between public services and the provider’s servers.
For comparison: Telegram considered itself an app with reliable encryption, but by default, its chats are not encrypted (end-to-end). Otherwise, you could not restore message history when installing Telegram on a new device. To enable real end-to-end encryption, you need to create special “secret chats”. Only a small part of users do that.
The company has full control over data
Self-hosted business software provides advanced and reliable information security.
- Only employees have access to the system. No external accounts can be used improperly.
- Your company controls where MyChat Server runs, how users connect, and who can access internal communication.
- Only work-related communication. The internal business messenger is not for regular chitchat.
- Message history under the control of the security service. The company can analyze or delete it if needed.
MyChat provides reliable control tools you can’t get with public services. Remember, if you share some sensitive information over Telegram or WhatsApp and then press “Delete” or “Delete for everyone”, that does NOT mean that this information will be physically deleted on all devices and server databases.
MyChat advantages
- Transparency: you can check network traffic on your own and make sure that the system works for your company only.
- Security: encryption, user rights system, integration with Active Directory.
- Autonomy: MyChat works without an Internet connection too.
- Independence: your team is not dependent on a cloud messaging provider’s account policies or service availability.
Free version to start
MyChat is available in a free version for 20 users. No limitations on time, features, or connected physical devices. In the MyChat free version, you can:
- install the server on your computer or corporate network (no Windows Server needed);
- connect your team;
- install the messenger on computers and mobile phones;
- make sure everything is reliable and convenient.
You can always switch to the commercial version when ready.