Durov : Telegram Discloses IP Addresses and Phone Numbers of Criminals From 2018 to Authorities
Telegram founder Pavel Durov recently wrote on his Telegram channel about the messenger’s cooperation with law enforcement agencies. Pavel Durov clarified that although his previous publication could be perceived as an announcement of significant changes in the work of Telegram, in fact, there were no cardinal changes.
Since 2018, Durov noted, the platform has been authorized to disclose IP addresses and phone numbers of criminals to authorities based on legal requests, according to its privacy policy.
Durov wrote that Telegram processes properly executed legal requests through the appropriate lines of communication, disclosing data only when necessary to fight crime. Information about these requests is displayed in a special @transparency bot. For example, in Brazil and India, hundreds of requests from law enforcement agencies were fulfilled in 2024.
Durov also reported that the number of legal requests in Europe increased in the third quarter of 2024 due to a new EU compliant communication line (DSA). Telegram continues to comply with local laws as long as they do not conflict with the platform’s values of freedom and privacy.
Telegram, according to Durov, was created to protect activists and ordinary citizens from corrupt governments and corporations, but at the same time does not give criminals the right to abuse its platform and avoid responsibility.
On September 23, Pavel Durov said: Telegram will disclose and transfer to the “appropriate authorities” at their request the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate the rules of use of the messenger. This followed an update to the terms of service and privacy policy of the messenger.
Earlier, the founder of Telegram was detained at Le Bourget airport in Paris (it happened on August 24). Durov was charged with six articles, including: managing an online platform for illegal transactions, money laundering, providing illegal crypto services, refusal to cooperate with law enforcement, as well as complicity in drug trafficking and distribution of child pornography in an organized group. Pavel Durov was later released on 5 million euro bail.
