Telegram May Share Users’ IP Addresses and Phone Numbers with Law Enforcement

Pavel Durov announced on his Telegram channel that, in recent weeks, Telegram’s developers have made search “much safer” and removed all problematic content they found. The founder of Telegram also stated that the platform’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy have been updated. Now, these documents specify that the IP addresses and phone numbers of users who violate Telegram’s rules may be disclosed to the relevant authorities in response to legitimate legal requests.

“Search in Telegram is more powerful than in other messaging apps because it allows users to find public channels and bots. Unfortunately, this feature has been abused by people violating our Terms of Service to sell illegal goods.

Over the past few weeks, a special team of moderators, using artificial intelligence, has made Telegram’s search much safer. All problematic content we identified in search is no longer accessible. If you still manage to find anything unsafe or illegal in Telegram search, please report it to us via @SearchReport.

To further prevent bad actors from abusing Telegram search, we have updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, ensuring they are consistent worldwide. We clarified that the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate our rules may be disclosed to the relevant authorities in response to legitimate legal requests.

These measures should deter criminals. Telegram search is intended for finding friends and news, not for promoting illegal goods. We will not allow bad actors to compromise the integrity of our platform for nearly a billion users,” wrote Pavel Durov.

Changes to Telegram’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

The Terms of Service and Privacy Policy have indeed changed, as Durov reported. Previously, section 8.3 regarding cooperation with law enforcement stated:

“If Telegram receives a court order confirming that you are suspected of terrorism, we may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities. This has not happened so far. When it does, we will reflect it in our semiannual transparency report, published at: https://t.me/transparency.”

Now, this section has been updated to state:

“If Telegram receives an official request from competent judicial authorities confirming that you are a suspect in a criminal case involving illegal activities that violate Telegram’s Terms of Service, we will conduct a legal review of the request and may provide your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities. If any data is provided, we will reflect this in a report that is updated every three months on the official channel: https://t.me/transparency.”

New Restrictions in the Terms of Service

The Terms of Service now begin with the following prohibitions:

• By registering on Telegram, you accept our Privacy Policy and agree:
  • Not to use the messenger for spamming or deceiving users;
  • Not to incite violence in public channels, bots, or other public chats on Telegram;
  • Not to post illegal pornographic content in channels, bots, or other public chats on Telegram;
  • Not to engage in activities recognized as illegal in most countries. This includes child abuse, the sale or offering of illegal goods and services (drugs, weapons, forged documents), etc.

Telegram reserves the right to make further changes and additions to this User Agreement in the future.

Previously, the above list did not include the fourth point, meaning there was no explicit ban on illegal activity in general.

Telegram’s Cooperation with Law Enforcement

It is also worth noting that, at the end of last week, the publication Le Figaro reported that after Pavel Durov’s arrest in France, representatives of the platform have become somewhat more active in cooperating not only with French authorities but also with law enforcement agencies in other countries, including the United States, South Korea, and Belgium.