Telegram will now hand over your phone number and IP if you’re a criminal suspect

Telegram will now turn over a user's phone number and IP address if it receives a request from authorities, according to its just-updated privacy policy:

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.

The adjustment is the latest change Telegram has made following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov last month, who French authorities charged with enabling illegal activity on the platform.

In a post on Telegram, Durov says the company is making these changes to "deter criminals from abusing" the app's search function. Telegram's search feature allows users to look for public channels and bots, but Durov says it's been abused by people "to sell illegal goods."

"We've made it clear that the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate our rules can be disclosed to relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests," Durov wrote in a post on his Telegram channel. "We won't let bad actors jeopardize the integrity of our platform for almost a billion users."

As spotted by 404 Media, Telegram's law enforcement policy previously only applied to terror suspects, saying: "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."

Telegram says it will disclose whether it provided user information to authorities in its quarterly transparency reports.