Telegram changed its privacy policies on Monday to inform that it will now collaborate with authorities in the investigation of crimes committed on its platform, providing personal data on alleged suspects. This change represents a 180-degree turn in Telegram’s current practices, which until now boasted of not responding to such requests.
“If Telegram receives a valid order from the competent judicial authorities confirming that you are a suspect in a case related to criminal activities that violate Telegram’s terms of service, we will conduct a legal analysis of the request and may disclose your IP address and phone number to the authorities,” the platform’s privacy policy now reads.
Telegram’s terms of service state that it is prohibited to use it to spam or scam users, “promote violence on publicly accessible Telegram channels,” “post illegal pornographic content on publicly accessible Telegram channels,” or “engage in activities that are recognized as illegal in most countries. This includes the abuse of minors, the sale or offer of illegal goods and services (drugs, firearms, false documents), etc.”
Until now, Telegram has not made any reference to its terms of service at this point in its privacy policy. On the contrary, the platform has clarified that it would only consider responding to this type of information requests in the event of terrorism. However, the network itself added that it had “never” responded to them.
“If Telegram receives a court order confirming that you are suspected of terrorism, we may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities. So far, this has never happened,” the previous editorial staff reported, as seen in a screenshot of its page taken this Saturday by the Internet Web Archive, a tool that allows users to view archived versions of websites at different times.
The change comes a few weeks after the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Dúrov in France, a Russian-born businessman. He is accused of a dozen crimes, including complicity in drug trafficking, distribution of child pornography and membership in a criminal gang. He is currently free on bail of five million euros. Forbes estimates his fortune at 15.5 billion euros.
In his first statements after his release, Dúrov admitted that the rapid growth of Telegram’s membership (which has about 950 million users, according to his data) “has made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.” He also promised to “significantly improve things in this regard.”
Telegram’s refusal to cooperate with authorities initially made it a widely used service by opposition movements to authoritarian regimes around the world. However, in recent years, these same practices have made it the official communication channel for many criminal and cybercriminal groups. In addition, leading digital rights organizations now advise activists not to use it, as it does not use end-to-end encryption by default.
