User information to be shared upon legal request: Update from Telegram

The crisis over whether WhatsApp messages deleted by relatives of 8-year-old Narin Güran, who was murdered in Diyarbakır, would be provided had been on the agenda. Telegram has updated its privacy policy.

According to the statements in the new privacy policy, if Telegram receives a valid order from relevant judicial authorities confirming that users are suspects in a case involving "criminal activities that violate the Telegram Terms of Service," it will "perform a legal analysis of the request" and may disclose the "IP address and phone number" to the relevant authorities.

'WE WILL NOT ALLOW BAD ACTORS TO COMPROMISE THE INTEGRITY OF OUR PLATFORM'

In a statement published on his Telegram channel, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said, "We will not allow bad actors to compromise the integrity of our platform." Durov was detained by French police on Saturday, August 24, at Le Bourget Airport north of Paris. It was reported that Durov was being investigated for crimes including illegal transfers, child pornography, fraud, and failure to provide information to authorities.

Shortly after, the Telegram founder was released on the condition of paying a 5 million euro bail and not leaving France. Telegram announced that it would share information regarding the steps it takes concerning requests from governments with the public in its quarterly reports.

Today, Telegram ranks as one of the world's largest social media platforms, following Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat. It has managed to distinguish itself from these platforms until now with its emphasis on privacy. Telegram, which has servers in different parts of the world, is headquartered in Dubai. Telegram has become particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine, and former Soviet Union countries.

Following Durov's refusal to share user data with the Russian government, the application was banned in Russia in 2018. However, the ban was lifted in 2021. Last week, Ukraine announced that it had banned the use of Telegram on official devices issued to public employees, military personnel, and workers in the defense sector and critical infrastructure. The country stated that it took this decision to "minimize" Russian threats such as cyberattacks on this important platform.

Following this news, Telegram stated in a statement to the BBC that it "has not provided any messaging data to any country, including Russia."

News Source: AA