As stated before, on September 23, 2024, Telegram shared plans to make changes to its privacy policy, which would fight the misapplication of the platform by ‘‘malicious actors.’’ Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov stressed that the service will provide the police with users’ phone numbers and IP addresses in response to legal demands, while earlier, such information could only be provided only in connection with acts of terrorism.
Durov said that the measures will be part of a plan to make the platform more secure or, rather, preserve the integrity of the messenger app service to the users. This update emerges while the platform is under pressure after an investigation in France in which Durov is suspected of enabling the circulation of contraband content, such as child sexual abuse materials and drugs.
According to the new agreement, Telegram will analyze the legal possibility before sharing the user’s data; this process will be equally applicable globally. This change is especially directed at users who actively employ search tools for unlawful activities, for instance, for selling illegal items. Durov also explained that the search option as such was initially designed to help connect people with friends and access the news, not to advertise illicit sales.
Also Read: Telegram’s Privacy Advocate Pavel Durov Arrested Amid Rising Criminal Activity
Considering recent problems, Telegram also uses artificial intelligence tools to improve the search function’s protection. These developments are set to identify and block such materials, affirming the platform’s pursuit of users’ protection.
Due to this, Telegram has a current audience of about 950 million users, making it difficult to control and moderate what users post. Durov mentioned these issues and said he himself plans to step up the security of the platform. The changes are part of a larger upgrade that aims to safeguard the app against criminal operations that have been chronicled by police and technology experts.
It is a trend in many tech companies to try and find the middle ground of both protecting user privacy as well as the increasing concern in fighting online crime. In the future, users, who currently rely on apps such as Telegram to coordinate and plan unlawful happenings, can expect improved government crackdown and efforts at controlling these platforms.
This means that, unlike most social apps that allow cybercriminals to sneak into users’ data, Telegram is on the frontline getting prepared to protect its platform, which is a paradigm shift, given the increasing cases of cybercrime and stringent rules across the world.
