Last week on Telegram, chats were ablaze with rumors that direct messaging on the platform lost its encryption, after CEO Pavel Durov posted bail from a French jail and Telegram made a quiet update to their FAQ.
Below you’ll see the sentence that got omitted, which is rightfully disturbing. Remember though, that almost everything sent through Telegram is accessible to the platform’s core moderators and engineers, with the exception of secret chats, the end-to-end encrypted chats which hardly get used.
Telegram addressed this on Twitter saying that this is not new behavior and to check the source code to see there weren’t any changes.
This statement is missing the point, because there wouldn’t need to be any changes of the source code to pass over data to regulators or law enforcement. All of that would occur server side using internal tools.
The important takeaway is that Telegram is not willing to keep private chats private among their participants, and will process requests related to private chats. Otherwise, why remove the line?
What’s The Worst Case Scenario?
What’s the impact of this? The door is now open to Telegram handing over message data related to specific accounts, groups, or message based on requests from authorities.
Telegram’s latest official post indicates that they’ll be taking moderation and these requests more seriously. And with Pavel on a no-fly list and reporting to police twice a week, these changes may be indefinite.
As a reminder of how this works, we can look at Signal’s self-reporting of a warrant their received Santa Clara County, California. A request was made to pull down all information related to a phone number such as the following:
Name
Street Address
Telephone Number
Email Address
Account Identifiers
Date the account was opened
Connecting IP addresses
Outbound / inbound calls
Content of instant messages
Although Signal claimed not to be able to provide these things (although it has the capability for many things - that’s another story we’ll talk about soon), Telegram could provide all of these things and more.
It’s unclear what the future holds, with its founder’s fate in the balance and risking prison, they will need to keep the French authorities happy. In the short-term this may mean tweaking the FAQ, banning channels, and supporting investigations.
The Censorship Aspect
It seems like part of the reason behind Pavel’s arrest was to censor important information. Many noticed the official Hamas channel ‘Al Quds Brigades’ banned for all users using a United States phone number.
Previously, this channel was banned when downloading Telegram through Google & Apple app stores, but now its banned on the main Telegram app.
The timing of this censorship, coming days after Durov posting bail is very suspect and clues into the hidden agendas behind Durov’s arrest. Controlling the narrative is just as important as targeted surveillance.
Telegram’s Statement
Recently, Telegram has taken a focus on moderation in their new features, including a feature to report direct messages between users.
☝️ While 99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001% involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk.
✊ That’s why this year we are committed to turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise.
Part of this statement mentions that they already delete millions of posts and channels per day, no doubt due to the incessant spam that has been thriving on the platform.
Pavel himself is making the best of it, as he was recently spotted with his girlfriend Yulia Vavilova on the streets of Paris. This is peculiar as many assumed that Yulia was involved in setting up the trap and was potentially a spy for Mossad. If that’s the case, Pavel doesn’t seem to mind one bit.
What Now?
Onwards digital nomads, we’ll travel forward to the next frontier. I could not possibly recommend Telegram for private communications at this point and I will be exploring other options thoroughly. Part 3 of this article will wrap up serious things that need to be fixed in Telegram to keep users happy, and potential alternatives.
Till then, don’t accept dinner invites from politicians.
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