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Telegram, the encrypted messaging app that's prized by those seeking privacy, lost a bid before Russia's Supreme Court to block security services from getting access to users' data, giving President Vladimir Putin a victory in his effort to keep tabs on electronic communications.
Supreme Court Judge Alla Nazarova on Tuesday rejected Telegram's appeal against the Federal Security Service, the successor to the KGB spy agency which last year asked the company to share its encryption keys. Telegram declined to comply and was hit with a fine [paywall] of $14,000. Communications regulator Roskomnadzor said Telegram now has 15 days to provide the encryption keys.
[...] "Threats to block Telegram unless it gives up private data of its users won't bear fruit. Telegram will stand for freedom and privacy," Pavel Durov, the company's founder, said on his Twitter page.
Putin signed laws in 2016 on fighting terrorism, which included a requirement for messaging services to provide the authorities with means to decrypt user correspondence. Telegram challenged an auxiliary order by the Federal Security Service, claiming that the procedure doesn't involve a court order and breaches constitutional rights for privacy, according to documents.
[...] The court decision is intended to make one of the last holdouts among communications companies bow to Putin's efforts to track electronic messaging. Durov in June registered the service with the state communications watchdog after it was threatened with a ban over allegations that terrorists used it to plot a suicide-bomb attack.
What I find interesting is that Telegram has encryption keys to give them. If they do, then in my opinion they're doing it wrong.
Source: Bloomberg
(Score: 3, Informative) by canopic jug on Friday March 23 2018, @05:13PM
Telegram, the encrypted messaging app that's prized by those seeking privacy [...]
Is it? It has encryption turned off by default for messages. And while many other articles go on about "end-to-end" encryption, it is far scarcer than marketing brochures would have us believe, perhaps even in Telegram. Telegram is somewhat infamous [gizmodo.com] for playing with homegrown encryption [schneier.com].
However, Telegram plans to appeal the court's decision. Not that I expect the appeal to work. The decision is based on the 2016 Russian law requiring that messaging services provide authorities with means to decrypt user correspondence.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.