Telegram to Share User Info With Law Enforcement in Policy Shift

Telegram will hand over user information, such as phone numbers and IP addresses, to authorities in order to limit the criminal activity that occurs on the platform, the company said in an update to its privacy policies.

"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," said Telegram in its user privacy policy.

This recent change in policy comes after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested and indicted in France after being held liable for the behavior of users on the platform.

This set off speculation of whether this would change the way Telegram has become a harbor for threat actors to communicate with one another, sell stolen data, and distribute malware, among other things. Initial signs pointed to things remaining the same, however, this update indicates a new era for the messaging app.

Telegram will also update its search feature to remove problematic content from its search results. And it will implement a system to allow users to report illegal search terms through an @SearchReport bot that will be reviewed by human moderators.