Telegram’s Durov exposes IP sharing since 2018 amid French legal storm

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov revealed that the messaging app has been sharing users’ IP addresses with authorities since 2018, minimizing the impact of recent terms of service updates amid mounting legal challenges in France.

As for CEO Pavel Durov, recently announced changes to the terms and conditions of the Telegram messaging app have not resulted in significant changes.

DUROV downplays significant changes

“My previous post seemed to herald a major change in how Telegram works,” Durov said on the app on Wednesday. “But in reality, not much has changed.”

Durov, who was wanted by French prosecutors in August over crimes committed on the app, last week announced that Telegram had increased moderation and changed its terms of service to discourage criminals from using the software.

TELEGRAM COMMON USER OF IPS SINCE 2018

He minimized the situation in his Wednesday tweet, in which he stated that Telegram’s policy since 2018 has been to provide authorities with data from criminals when “it receives an appropriately formulated legal request via appropriate communication lines.”

According to Durov, European Union authorities started using appropriate contact lines, which resulted in an increase in the number of justified legal requests from Europe in the third quarter, BNN Bloomberg reports.

MORE EUROPEAN LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

Durov, born in Russia, was described by French prosecutors as the president of a corporation that refused to provide law enforcement authorities with data that could help them legally wiretap people suspected of committing crimes.

Despite being ordered to remain in France throughout the investigation, Durov denies the allegations.