Telegram starts to play nice with security agencies over user data, but not in Russia

Source: Vsoftsystems, 06/09/2018

Under Telegram`s new privacy policy, it could hand over user IP and
phone details given the right court order.
On Tuesday, Russian communication regulator Roskomnadzor indicated it
may consider unblocking encrypted messaging app Telegram.
However, there`s a rather significant catch: Telegram will have to
hand over the keys to its users` encrypted chats.
`Our colleagues should apply to our appropriate authorities -- the
Federal Security Service -- to interact with them, as required by
Russian law, and to provide the data they are obliged to provide in
Russia,` Roskomnadzor deputy head Vadim Subbotin told the TASS news
agency.
`Unlocking is possible, if they execute a court decision.`
That`s a non-starter. After all, the whole reason Telegram is blocked
in Russia is its refusal to hand over those encryption keys.
The ban has been in place since April, and Roskomnadzor`s attempts to
enforce it have led to the blockage of many IP addresses, affecting
other online concerns in the process.
However, Telegram isn`t entirely averse to handing over data to
authorities. Also on Tuesday, the company published a new privacy
policy in which it stated: `If Telegram receives a court order that
confirms you`re a terror suspect, we may disclose your IP address and
phone number to the relevant authorities.`
`So far, this has never happened,` the policy noted. `When it does, we
will include it in a semiannual transparency report.`
In a Telegram post on Tuesday -- the service provides public-facing
channels as well as private messaging features -- founder Pavel Durov
said the policy has been revised to belatedly comply with Europe`s new
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and Telegram was `reserving
the right` to comply with court orders.
`Regardless of whether we ever use this right, the measure should make
Telegram less attractive for those who are engaged in sending out
terrorist propaganda here,` he noted.
Telegram has indeed been used as a messaging and propaganda medium by
terrorists, notably those involved in ISIS.
So does Telegram`s new policy indicate a thaw in its relations with
the Russian authorities? Not according to Durov, who noted in his post
that the Russian ban was not down to issues around terrorist suspects`
IP addresses and phone numbers.
Durov pointed out that, as Telegram is still outlawed in Russia, the
company does not have to pay any heed to the demands of the Russian
authorities, and the new privacy policy has nothing to do with the
situation in that country.
`Therefore, we continue our resistance,` he said.
As the Russia-focused publication Meduza has noted, quite a few
questions about the new privacy policy remain unanswered, such as
whether Telegram will tell users that their data has been shared with
authorities, and why the company did not give users a heads-up about
the privacy policy change, given that the EU`s GDPR came into effect
in late May.
ZDNet has also asked Telegram for answers to these questions, but has
received no reply as yet.