Telegram Founder Reassures Ukrainian Users Of Privacy

Tom Jowitt,

Pavel Durov, co-founder of Telegram, says he had to leave Russia because of FSB demands and insists the data of Ukrainian users is safe

The Russian born co-founder of privacy-focused messaging app Telegram has sought to reassure users in Ukraine that their communications are secure.

Pavel Durov in a blog post denied that his Russian heritage made Telegram a less secure platform for Ukrainians. Telegram is reportedly the most popular message app in Ukraine.

Indeed, Durov spent most of the post explaining how he had to leave Russia, after he refused to comply with a demand from Russia’s FSB (the main successor agency to the Soviet Union’s KGB) when he was CEO of VK, Russia’s largest social network.

Right to privacy

“If you follow my posts, you know that on my Mom’s side, I trace my family line from Kyiv,” he wrote, explaining that him and his brother still have many relatives living in Ukraine.

“That’s why this tragic conflict is personal both to me and Telegram,” Durov wrote. “Some people wondered if Telegram is somehow less secure for Ukrainians, because I once lived in Russia. Let me tell these people how my career in Russia ended.”

Durov explained that nine years ago he was the CEO of VK, but in 2013, the Russian FSB, demanded that he provide them the private data of the Ukrainian users of VK who were protesting against a pro-Russian President.

“I refused to comply with these demands, because it would have meant a betrayal of our Ukrainian users,” wrote Durov. “After that, I was fired from the company I founded and was forced to leave Russia.”

“I lost my company and my home, but would do it again – without hesitation,” Durov wrote. “I smile with pride when I read my VK post from April 2014, which shows the scanned orders from the FSB and my trademark response to them – a dog in a hoodie.”

“When I defied their demands, the stakes were high for me personally,” wrote Durov. “I was still living in Russia, and my team and my old company were also based in that country.”

“Many years have passed since then,” he wrote. “Many things changed: I no longer live in Russia, no longer have any companies or employees there. But one thing remains the same – I stand for our users no matter what. Their right to privacy is sacred. Now – more than ever.”

Pavel Durov currently lives in the UAE in Dubai. Him and his brother are citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis and France.

This is not the first time that Pavel Durov has defended Telegram.

In 2017 he reiterated his well known stance against the sharing of confidential data with government entities, amid pressure on the service from Russian officials.

Telegram allegations

Durov is a billionaire, and his defence of his personal history and insistence of Telegram’s privacy comes after a tweet from Moxie Marlinspike.

Moxie Marlinspike of course created the encryption for rival messaging app Signal.

Last month he tweeted that he was amazed most people still thought Telegram was an encrypted app.

Telegram meanwhile says that everything stored on its cloud is securely encrypted.

That said, while all of its data is protected only some of its features reportedly use end-to-end encryption by default.

It should be remembered that Russian authorities banned Telegram in April 2018 after the firm refused to provide secret services with access to encrypted chats, saying it was not technically possible for it to do so.

The Russian block order was lifted in June 2020, after two years, after Russia’s Roskomnadzor said it would lift the ban after Pavel Durov agreed to improve Telegram’s measures for moderating and removing “extremist propaganda”.

In January this year, a German government minister warned that Telegram could face the possibility of being closed down in Germany.

Telegram’s service is allegedly popular with far-right groups and people opposed to pandemic-related restrictions in Germany.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reportedly said it could be closed down, if the app continues to be used to violate German law.