After CEO’s arrest, Telegram says it will now turn some bad actors’ data over to law enforcement
CNN
Messaging platform Telegram is making some new concessions around safety and user privacy after the arrest of its founder and CEO Pavel Durov in France last month.
Messaging platform Telegram is making some new concessions around safety and user privacy after the arrest of its founder and CEO Pavel Durov in France last month. Durov was arrested and interviewed by French prosecutors over suspected criminal activity on the platform, including gang transactions and trafficking, as well as an alleged failure by the company to hand over data related to the investigation. He was later released from police custody with bail set at $5.56 million as the probe unfolds. The investigation sparked debate about free speech and criminal activity online, but the authorities’ concerns weren’t exactly a surprise. The app — which has amassed more than 950 million users, thanks in large part to encryption technology and promises of user privacy — has for years been criticized for its popularity among unsavory internet characters and criminals, including drug traffickers, money launderers and extremists, including White supremacists and terror groups such as ISIS. Following his arrest, Telegram said Durov had “nothing to hide” and that it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.” Two weeks after his arrest, Durov acknowledged that the app’s “abrupt increase” in users caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse the platform. Now, Telegram is making some changes in an effort to reduce criminal activity on the platform, Durov said Monday in a post on the app. Chief among them: Telegram has updated its terms of service and privacy policy to note it will hand over the IP addresses and phone numbers of users who violate its rules to authorities in response to “valid legal requests.” The platform says it will disclose all user data that is shared with law enforcement officials in quarterly transparency reports. “Search on Telegram is more powerful than in other messaging apps because it allows users to find public channels and bots,” Durov wrote. “Unfortunately, this feature has been abused by people who violated our Terms of Service to sell illegal goods.”
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