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Pavel Durov Says Telegram Have Been Handing Over User Details To Authorities Since 2018

Pavel Durov has made it clear in today's announcement that Telegram won't allow criminals to abuse the platform or use it to evade justice

By Alex Ioannou

Last Updated: Oct 2, 2024

Fact checked

By Sam Cooling

Pavel Durov has made it clear in today's announcement that Telegram won't allow criminals to abuse the platform or use it to evade justice

Founder and CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has said today (October 2) that Telegram has been able to disclose IP addresses and telephone numbers for several years.

Durov posted an update on his Telegram channel today to clarify his recent post about disclosures of IPs and phone numbers of users deemed to be involved in criminal activity.

Pavel Durov Announced To His 13m Followers That Telegram Has Been Capable Of Disclosing User Information Since 2018

Pavel Durov has made it clear in today's announcement that Telegram won't allow criminals to abuse the platform or use it to evade justice

(TELEGRAM)

“My previous post may have seemed to announce a major shift in how Telegram works. But in reality, little has changed,” the Telegram founder claimed in the most recent communication to his 13.38 million channel subscribers.

According to Durov, Telegram has been capable of disclosing IP addresses and phone numbers of criminals to authorities since 2018. He made it clear this is only done via “properly formed legal requests” and in accordance with its privacy policies.

“Whenever we received a properly formed legal request via relevant communication lines, we would verify it and disclose the IP addresses/phone numbers of dangerous criminals. This process had been in place long before last week,” Durov stated.

Brazil, India & Europe Mentioned By Durov As Territories Where Telegram Have Disclosed Data To Authorities

He also said that this process is relevant to most countries while mentioning Brazil, India and Europe as examples where Telegram have assisted authorities in criminal cases.

Durov said, “For example, in Brazil, we disclosed data for 75 legal requests in Q1 (January-March) 2024, 63 in Q2, and 65 in Q3. In India, our largest market, we satisfied 2461 legal requests in Q1, 2151 in Q2, and 2380 in Q3.”

He goes on to say that Q3 has seen an uptick in legal requests from Europe, “caused by the fact that more EU authorities started to use the correct communication line for their requests.”

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Telegram Founder Claims His Platform Was “Built To Protect Activists And Ordinary People From Corrupt Governments”

Durov was keen to reiterate last weeks news indicating that Telegram has been “streamlining and unifying its privacy policy across different countries.”

He claims that Telegram’s core principles haven’t changed as the company has always been striving to comply with relevant local laws “as long as they didn’t go against our values of freedom and privacy.”

The Telegram founder finished with a warning to any criminals using his platform to engage in illicit activity. Durov said, “Telegram was built to protect activists and ordinary people from corrupt governments and corporations, we do not allow criminals to abuse our platform or evade justice.”

Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.

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Disclaimer
Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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Alex Ioannou
Alex Ioannou
On-Chain Journalist

Alex is an aspiring writer focusing on the more degen side of the crypto world. Always on the lookout for the next hot narrative. Read More

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