Telegram Increasingly Shared Data with Authorities, Impacting Users in the US, the UK, and More

• A recent report suggests a significant increase in law enforcement requests to access personal Telegram user data.
• These affect thousands of users in India, the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, Germany, France, and other countries.
• India is at the top of the list, with more than 14,600 requests filed, followed by Germany and the U.S., with around 2,250 each.

Telegram has significantly increased its cooperation with law enforcement authorities by sharing user data, according to new findings published by researchers. These indicate a marked increase in law enforcement requests during the last quarter of 2024 compared to earlier periods.  

Following the arrest of its CEO last summer, Telegram has introduced a bot that generates country-specific transparency reports. These reports offer brief insights into the number of law enforcement requests for user data, such as IP addresses and phone numbers, and the number of individuals impacted.  

Two independent researchers, including one affiliated with Human Rights Watch, have recently launched a publicly accessible crowdsourced project to aggregate and analyze this data, hosting their findings on GitHub. 

While comprehensive data is unavailable for many countries, some nations reported hundreds of law enforcement requests, collectively targeting thousands of Telegram users. The compiled data reveals that north of 23,500 users in India were affected, with approximately 2,200 in the U.S., Germany, and France, and some 300 users within the U.K., among others.  

Telegram affirmed that it will publish its first annual transparency report under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) later this month.

Although this increased cooperation with law enforcement may address certain criminal activities, privacy advocates have raised concerns about the broader implications of these practices. The debate remains polarized as Telegram navigates the balance between user privacy and legal compliance under heightened scrutiny.

Here’s what Telegram’s Privacy Policy has to say about sharing user data with law enforcement:

“If Telegram receives a valid order from the relevant judicial authorities that confirms you're a suspect in a case involving criminal activities that violate the Telegram Terms of Service, we will perform a legal analysis of the request and may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities. If any data is shared, we will include such occurrences in a quarterly transparency report published at: https://t.me/transparency.”

Pavel Durov, Telegram's CEO and a dual citizen of France and Russia, was detained by French authorities in August 2024. He pledged to implement substantial measures to address the misuse of Telegram's platform for unlawful activities.

Additionally, he promised to provide IP addresses and phone numbers of users who breach the platform's rules upon receipt of valid legal requests.