Telegram, a popular messaging app, has seen a significant surge in the number of data demands it fulfilled for users' data from law enforcement agencies over the past year, according to newly released data. This development comes months after French authorities arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in August, partly due to the company's refusal to provide user data in response to a child exploitation investigation.

The latest transparency data from Telegram, accessible only with a Telegram account and limited to the region where the requesting user is located, shows that the messaging app handed over phone numbers and IP addresses to U.S. authorities on 900 occasions during 2024, affecting 2,253 Telegram users. This marks a substantial increase compared to most of 2024, when Telegram responded to only 14 requests for user data, affecting a total of 108 users, according to a global crowdsourced map of requests produced by Meduza.

The data also reveals that Telegram provided phone numbers and IP addresses to Indian authorities on 14,641 occasions, affecting 23,535 users. In the United Kingdom, Telegram gave phone numbers and IP addresses to U.K. authorities a total of 142 times, affecting 293 users, up from single-digits under the previous reporting period. These figures have sparked concerns over user privacy and the potential for abuse of power by law enforcement agencies.

Experts speculate that Telegram's shift in policy may be attributed to the arrest of its CEO, Pavel Durov, in August. Soon after Durov's arrest, Telegram appeared to relax its stance on handling abuse reports, potentially paving the way for increased cooperation with law enforcement agencies. However, the company has not publicly confirmed any changes to its policy on user data requests.

The implications of this trend are far-reaching, with potential consequences for user privacy and trust in messaging platforms. As law enforcement agencies increasingly rely on data requests to investigate crimes, messaging apps like Telegram must balance their obligations to cooperate with authorities while protecting the privacy of their users. The rise in fulfilled data requests raises important questions about the boundaries of user data protection and the role of tech companies in facilitating law enforcement activities.

In the context of the ongoing debate over encryption and data privacy, Telegram's latest transparency data serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between national security concerns and individual privacy rights. As the tech industry continues to grapple with these complex issues, users are left to wonder about the long-term implications of increased cooperation between messaging apps and law enforcement agencies.

This article was contributed to by Carly Page in the U.K. and Jagmeet Singh in India.