5 private chat platforms for secure business communication

Did you know that the cyber workforce grew by 15% because privacy concerns and data breaches are becoming more prevalent? This highlights the need for businesses to adopt a private chat system and prioritize secure communication.

For instance, IBM noted that the average cost of data breaches reached USD 4.88 million in 2024. Moreover, about 62% of ransomware and extortion incidents had a median loss of USD 46,000 per breach.

Your company needs secure messaging apps to protect user privacy and prevent data breaches. Industry leaders believe that 79% of customers are protective of their personal data. 

That’s why companies must choose private chat and secure collaboration tools for handling organizational data as remote work continues to rise. This blog post will discuss how businesses, governments, and individuals must choose reliable apps for secure communication and regulatory compliance.

Privacy and compliance: Why do businesses need private chat?

Today, businesses face legal and regulatory pressures to necessitate private communications. Examples include data privacy laws, protecting customer trust, and avoiding liability. 

Regulations like HIPAA, CCPA, and GDPR impose strict requirements highlighting how your businesses should handle personal and sensitive data.

• Article 33 of GDPR mandates organizations to implement robust data protection measures and report any breaches within 72 hours.
• HIPAA doesn’t allow disclosure of sensitive data and unauthorized access. If breached, the company must pay legal and financial penalties.
• The CCPA gives consumers the right to delete, opt out, correct, or know their data used to enhance their privacy rights and protect themselves.

Apart from this, the demand for data sovereignty is growing, compelling businesses to process and store data within geographical boundaries. Organizations are, hence, forced to comply with local data management laws.

As a result, secure private chat solutions became necessary for organizations handling sensitive customer and business information. Adopting such an app isn’t just a matter of preference—it’s a strategic, operational requirement to maintain security and privacy in communications.

5 key features of a secure private chat platform

Here are the most important features businesses should look for in a private chat platform:

1. End-to-end encryption (E2EE)

E2EE ensures that only intended recipients can access and read the messages you send. It encrypts data on your end and decrypts it only on the receiver’s device. 

This method protects sensitive conversations from unauthorized access and prevents unintended internal leaks during transmission. Even if data is compromised, E2EE makes the conversations unreadable without decryption keys.

2. Granular access control

Access control demands surged by 23% between 2019 and 2024, proving the increasing importance of privacy and security. 

Many believe that granular access control is the backbone of communication security. It empowers organizations to manage chat channels, private conversations, and more. This is a targeted approach that minimizes the risk of unauthorized personnel access and enhances privacy compliance. 

Integrating it with multi-factor authentication also adds an extra layer of security and reduces the likelihood of external threat vulnerabilities.

3. Self-hosting options

Do you want your organization to maximize data security and gain full control? Then, you must find private chat apps offering self-hosting options to minimize data breaches.

Finance, government, and healthcare industries must deploy self-hosted solutions to ensure compliance with strict data protection regulations. Compared to cloud-hosted chat platforms, self-hosting is better in these sectors as it enhances privacy and control over security settings, data storage, and more.

4. Message expiration & retention policies

Did you know that self-destructing messages play a crucial role in data protection? This feature ensures that data isn’t stored indefinitely, reducing data leak risks and providing a clear data environment. Messages get automatically deleted after a specific timeframe, which helps your organization prevent unauthorized access to irrelevant and outdated information. 

Similarly, customizable retention policies empower organizations to keep a few messages till a specific time. This ensures sensitive data isn’t kept longer than needed, aligning with data privacy regulations and legal standards for data governance.

5. Audit logs & monitoring

Organizations want to ensure transparency and compliance during private communication through real-time monitoring and audit trails. These features help businesses track activity and provide a comprehensive record of interactions for future review.

This helps log user activity for post-incident analysis and internal policy audit after a security breach or policy violation. Businesses can easily identify potential risks and enhance security proactively.

Common challenges in maintaining privacy in chat platforms

Identify and address the following challenges your organization might face in ensuring privacy for their chat and messaging platforms:

1. Data Breaches and unauthorized access

Statista reports that 422.61 million records were leaked due to data breaches. These can significantly compromise your business. Here’s how:

• Private conversations can get leaked, leading to financial losses and damage to brand reputation.
• Exposing sensitive information can result in loss of customer trust and legal penalties.

As a solution, organizations must use private chat software with robust encryption and access control features to protect against data leaks.

2. Unsecured devices and remote work

With the rise of WFH initiatives, remote work cybersecurity concerns were especially caused by unsecured devices and networks. 

In 2023, reports suggested that attackers can now exploit vulnerabilities 43% faster by taking only 4.76 days.

WFH employees may inadvertently expose your network to threats. That’s why you must ensure secure access to private chat apps and encrypted channels. VPNs can also help protect communication and safeguard data interception.

3. Third-party data sharing

Did you know that free messaging platforms collect user data and share information with third parties? This poses a significant privacy risk, leading to unauthorized data usage and exploitation of business information.

However, private chat platforms prioritize user privacy. They don't monetize your data or share it with external entities. These platforms emphasize data security and privacy for better data protection and maintenance.