Pierluigi Paganini
September 24, 2024

Telegram will provide user data to law enforcement agencies in response to valid legal requests, according to a recent policy update

Telegram has updated its privacy policy informing users that it will share users’ phone numbers and IP addresses with law enforcement in response to valid legal requests.

The company CEO Pavel Durov announced the policy update this week. Telegram will comply with requests from law enforcement if the user under investigation is found to be violating the platform’s rules.

“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.” reads the updated privacy policy.

In a message on its Telegram Channel, Durov revealed that over the last few weeks, a dedicated team of moderators, leveraging AI, has worked on its platform to identify and remove problematic content from the app.

“To further deter criminals from abusing Telegram Search, we have updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, ensuring they are consistent across the world. We’ve made it clear that the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate our rules can be disclosed to relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests.” Durov wrote on its Telegram Channel. “These measures should discourage criminals. Telegram Search is meant for finding friends and discovering news, not for promoting illegal goods. We won’t let bad actors jeopardize the integrity of our platform for almost a billion users.”

Durov also revealed that the Search on Telegram was enhanced allowing to find public channels and bots.

The policy appears to be under development, the independent website 404Media first reported that previously, Telegram’s policy stated that user data would only be shared with authorities in cases of confirmed terror-related suspicions, following a court order.

Data shared with authorities will be disclosed in the company’s quarterly transparency reports, accessible via a bot.

At the time of this writing, the bot displays the following message: “We are updating this bot with current data. Please come back within the next few days.”

Durov also revealed that Telegram had improved its search feature, which is known for widespread abuse to sell and promote illegal goods. He said a dedicated team has been working over the last few weeks to remove problematic content from the platform’s search results.

At the end of August, French prosecutors formally charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with facilitating various criminal activities on the platform, including the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), enabling organized crime, illicit transactions, drug trafficking, and fraud. The authorities announced a formal investigation of Durov following his arrest.

Durov was indicted and French authorities released under judicial supervision with a ban on leaving the French territory.

Telegram CEO spent more than eighty hours in police custody before being charged on August 28 with twelve offences, including “complicity in administering an online platform to enable illicit transactions as part of an organized gang,” refusal to provide necessary information for lawful interceptions, “complicity in the dissemination of child pornography by an organized gang,” drug trafficking, fraud, criminal association, and money laundering by an organized gang. Durov has been placed under judicial supervision and is prohibited from leaving French territory.

Pavel Durov was also “placed under judicial supervision, including the obligation to post a €5 million bail, the obligation to report to the police station twice a week, and the ban on leaving French territory ,” said the Paris prosecutor’s office on Wednesday.

Durov was charged with refusing to provide information required by authorities to carry out legal interceptions. To avoid pretrial detention Durov paid a €5 million bail and cannot leave France, and must report to authorities twice a week. The arrest is linked to a judicial investigation opened in France in July 2024, focused on Telegram’s lack of moderation, which have allowed extremist and malicious activities to proliferate on the platform.

Pierluigi Paganini

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(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Telegram)