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Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov stated that the sharing of criminals’ IP addresses and phone numbers with authorities has been in effect since 2018. Durov clarified his previous statement on his Telegram channel on October 2 regarding the sharing of IPs and phone numbers of accounts involved in criminal activity.
“My previous post might make you think that I’m announcing a major change in how Telegram works. But in fact, not much has changed,” Durov said, emphasizing that the sharing process has been ongoing for a long time.
IP Addresses and Phone Numbers Revealed Since 2018 Durov noted that Telegram has been able to disclose criminals’ IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities since 2018, in accordance with the privacy policies of various countries.
“When we receive a properly constructed legal request through authorized channels, we would verify it and disclose the IP addresses/phone numbers of dangerous criminals. This process has been in place long before last week,” he wrote.
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Durov shared data from Telegram’s Transparency Bot, showing how user data is disclosed to authorities. For example, in the first quarter of 2024, Brazil responded to 75 legal requests, while India responded to 2,461.
Telegram’s Core Principles Have Not Changed
While Durov emphasized that Telegram’s privacy policies have been more harmonized across countries, he said Telegram’s core principles have not changed. He noted that the company has always tried to act in compliance with local laws, but that these laws should not conflict with the values of freedom and privacy.
“Telegram was built to protect activists and ordinary people from corrupt governments and corporations — we will not allow criminals to abuse our platform or evade justice,” Durov added. Durov’s statement came after lawsuits were filed in France in August against the CEO over illegal activities.
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