Telegram will now share users’ phone numbers and IP addresses with law enforcement if they are found to be violating the platform’s rules following a valid legal request.
According to a newly updated privacy policy announced by CEO Pavel Durov on Monday, Telegram will comply with such requests only after receiving a valid court order confirming that the user is a suspect in a criminal case that breaches the platform’s Terms of Service.
Previously, Telegram’s policy limited sensitive user information sharing to cases involving terror suspects.
“If Telegram receives a valid order from the relevant judicial authorities that confirms you’re a suspect in a case involving criminal activities that violate the Telegram Terms of Service, we will perform a legal analysis of the request and may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities,” Durov said today.
“If any data is shared, we will include such occurrences in a quarterly transparency report published at: https://t.me/transparency.”
However, Telegram’s transparency submissions bot is not yet functional. A message stating, “We are updating this bot with current data. Please come back within the next few days,” implies that Telegram is still working on bringing it online.
Durov also revealed that Telegram had improved its search feature, which is known for widespread abuse to sell and promote illegal goods. He said a dedicated team has been working over the last few weeks to remove problematic content from the platform’s search results.
Users are urged to report illegal or unsafe material through the @SearchReport bot, and Telegram claims that a moderator team will review all reports of search terms that can be used to find illegal content.
“These measures should discourage criminals. Telegram Search is meant for finding friends and discovering news, not for promoting illegal goods,” Durov added today.
“We won’t let bad actors jeopardize the integrity of our platform for almost a billion users.”
The move comes after Durov, the Russian-born founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested in France in connection with an investigation into Telegram’s use for fraud, drug trafficking, and illegal content distribution.
He was released on bail days later but instructed not to leave the country because French authorities were still investigating him.
On Friday, Ukraine’s National Coordination Centre for Cybersecurity (NCCC) also banned Telegram on all devices used within government agencies, military units, and critical infrastructure, citing national security concerns.