Telegram CEO's Arrest Sparks Major Privacy Changes

Sep 24

2 min read

After CEO Pavel Durov's arrest in France over allegations of criminal activities conducted on the platform, Telegram has made concessions regarding user data. Durov, detained for failing to provide data related to an investigation into gang activities and trafficking, was released on $5.56 million bail.

In response, Telegram updated its privacy policy, stating that IP addresses and phone numbers of users involved in illegal activities will now be handed over to law enforcement upon valid legal requests. This policy applies not only in France but globally, reflecting a shift from Telegram’s previous stance against cooperating with authorities.

Durov emphasized that criminal activities make up just 0.001% of Telegram’s users, but these illicit actions negatively impact the platform’s reputation. To counter this, the platform has removed problematic content from its public search features, employing AI to identify and eliminate illegal listings.

These updates, however, do not affect private, encrypted chats, which Telegram maintains it cannot decrypt. The platform aims to maintain user privacy for the majority while responding to international pressure to combat criminal use

Privacy Policy quotes:

5.2. Safety and Security

Telegram supports massive communities which we have to police against abuse and Terms of Service violations. Telegram also has more than 900 million users which makes it a lucrative target for spammers. To improve the security of your account, as well as to prevent spam, abuse, and other violations of our Terms of Service, we may collect metadata such as your IP address, devices and Telegram apps you've used, history of username changes, etc. If collected, this metadata can be kept for 12 months maximum.

8.3. Law Enforcement Authorities

If Telegram receives a valid order from the relevant judicial authorities that confirms you're a suspect in a case involving criminal activities that violate the Telegram Terms of Service, we will perform a legal analysis of the request and may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities. If any data is shared, we will include such occurrences in a quarterly transparency report published at: https://t.me/transparency.