Messaging service Telegram is popular for those who want their chat to be encrypted and away from the governments' probe. But due to that nature, Telegram is also popular among terrorists and extremists.
To prevent them from thriving on its platform, the messaging service created by Pavel Durov, is updating its privacy policy to include a clause that states Telegram may hand over users' IP address and phone number if it receives a court order that indicates those people are terror suspects.
"If Telegram receives a court order that confirms you're a terror suspect, we may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities," Telegram's updated privacy settings said.
In short, Durov wants Telegram to be less hospitable to terrorists, who may seek to use the service to recruit new people and spread propaganda.
As of the announcement, no one has been affected. But when it does happen, the company wants to disclose it in a semiannual transparency report. This way, Telegram believes it can comply with the European Union’s GDPR guidelines.
While this is certainly a good move from Telegram, it does give some concerns.
Because the policy allows the government to ask Telegram to hand over information of those who are suspects, there is a potential that people who aren't "terror suspects" to get caught. Then there is the definition of "terror suspects" which may vary from one country to another.
For example, in one country, "terror suspect" could mean someone who engages in the radicalization of others, but in another country, it may refer to someone expressing dissatisfaction with their government.
Durov mentioned that the change was made to comply with the EU’s privacy laws, which only require companies to disclose to users what sort of data they’re sharing with governments, and that they don’t mandate Telegram to hand over users' IP addresses and phone numbers.
Telegram's privacy policy update is a long one. Previously, the page only has a little over 1,100 words. With the update, it has more than 3,500 words.
"This policy has been expanded on August 14, 2018 to add information required by the EU data protection law," said Telegram at the end of its privacy policy page.
But the one that should also be mentioned here, despite not being stated in the page, is Telegram cooperating with investigators in terror probes when ordered by courts, but that excludes in Russia where it is locked.
Telegram was banned in Russia in April 2018 because it refused to provide authorities in the country with a way to read its communications.
If Telegram wants to operate in Russia, it needs to compromise the privacy of its users. Another solution is to change its system to make it impossible for even itself to grant backdoor access to the governments.
Durov assured Russian Telegram users that his company would continue to withhold their data from security services.
"In Russia, Telegram is asked to disclose not the phone numbers or IP addresses of terrorists based on a court decision, but access to the messages of all users," Durov wrote on his Telegram channel. Since Telegram is illegal in Russia, he added that "we do not consider the request of Russian secret services and our confidentiality policy does not affect the situation in Russia."
Durov has long said he would reject any attempt by the Russian government to gain backdoor access to the app.