Newly launched information from messaging app Telegram reveals a pointy rise within the variety of information calls for it fulfilled over the previous 12 months for customers’ information from requesting regulation enforcement businesses.
The rise in fulfilled consumer requests comes months after French authorities arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in August partially for the corporate’s longstanding refusal to offer consumer information in response to a toddler exploitation investigation. Soon after Durov’s arrest, Telegram appeared to loosen up its coverage on the way it handles abuse reviews.
Telegram’s newest transparency information — requestable solely with a Telegram account and restricted to the area the place the requesting consumer is positioned — exhibits the messaging app handed over telephone numbers and IP addresses to U.S. authorities on 900 events throughout 2024, affecting 2,253 Telegram customers.
That’s a spike within the variety of fulfilled information requests in comparison with most of 2024, which noticed Telegram reply to 14 requests for consumer information on a complete of 108 customers, in keeping with a world crowdsourced map of requests produced by Meduza.
Telegram’s transparency figures for 2024 additionally present that the messaging app gave over telephone numbers and IP addresses to Indian authorities on 14,641 events, affecting 23,535 customers. For the United Kingdom, Telegram stated it gave telephone numbers and IP addresses to U.Okay. authorities a complete of 142 occasions, affecting 293 customers, up from single-digits below the earlier reporting interval.
TechCrunch’s Carly Page within the U.Okay. and Jagmeet Singh in India contributed reporting.
(through 404 Media)
