After Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested and subsequently released in France, his Telegram channel shared that the messaging platform has updated its terms of service and privacy policy.
According to these changes, the platform may disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of users who violate the law or Telegram's rules to the relevant authorities.
The IP addresses and phone numbers of Telegram violators will be disclosed to the relevant authorities
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced through his channel that the platform has updated its privacy policy and terms of service. The 39-year-old French-Russian was arrested on August 24, facing charges involving aiding criminal activities, including drug trafficking, fraud, pornography distribution, and money laundering. After posting a bail of 5 million euros (5.5 million USD), Durov was released and spoke to the public in early September, discussing the measures taken by the French authorities.
Durov's Telegram channel outlined the recent updates to the platform. He mentioned that over the past few weeks, a dedicated review team has been monitoring problematic content. To streamline their work, the team also adopted artificial intelligence (AI). As a result, Telegram's search system has been restricted, making harmful content "inaccessible." However, users are encouraged to report any illegal material they encounter through the platform's search report channel.
"To further prevent criminals from abusing Telegram search, we updated our terms of service and privacy policy to ensure consistency globally," the statement said. "We have clearly stated that the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate our rules can be disclosed to the relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests." The privacy policy notes that metadata can be retained for up to 12 months.
Telegram insists that these measures will prevent criminal activities. "The purpose of Telegram search is to find friends and discover news, not to promote illegal goods," the company stated. The statement ends with a firm stance, "We will not allow bad actors to compromise the integrity of our platform, which serves nearly a billion users."
