Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, asserted that the platform has never disclosed private messages to any third party.
Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, has made it clear that his messaging app will never compromise user privacy. In his Telegram channel, he declared, "Over its 12-year history, not a single byte of private messages has been divulged," adding that the EU's Digital Services Act, even with a genuine court order, would only yield IP addresses and phone numbers, never the actual messages.
Refusing to bend on this principle, Pavel Durov has stated that Telegram would abandon the market before compromising encryption and violating users' rights. This staunch stance is a direct response to France's attempt to force a "backdoor" into messaging services, granting authorities access to user conversations. Though the Senate passed this law, the National Assembly rejected it. Had it become law, France risked becoming the first country devoid of encryption, making users vulnerable to hackers and intelligence agencies.
On August 24, 2024, Durov was apprehended at Le Bourget airport. The charges levied against him encompassed six offenses, including the refusal to provide necessary documents for legal intercepts. He was later released on a €5 million bond and mandated to check in with police twice weekly.
Some months after his arrest, on March 17, Durov returned to Dubai from France, yet the investigation into his case remains ongoing.
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Tags: #Telegram, #Pavel Durov, #France
- Pavel Durov, Telegram's founder, was charged with refusing to provide documents for legal intercepts in France on August 24, 2024.
- Despite the arrest and ongoing investigation, Durov expressed no intention to disclose user messages or compromise Telegram's technology, as he had consistently maintained throughout the app's 12-year history.
- In the face of international scrutiny and legal challenges, Durov's continued commitment to user privacy was evident, as seen through his decision to return to Dubai and the continued operation of his secure messaging service, Telegram.
