Telegram disclosed personal data of those accused of copyright infringement at the request of a court in India

Following a court decision in India, Telegram disclosed the names, phone numbers and IP addresses of channel administrators accused of copyright infringement, TechCrunch reports .

The court ordered the company to hand over other people's personal data due to a lawsuit by the educational company KD Campus and its founder Neetu Singh. Singh alleged that several closed telegram channels were illegally selling the company's educational materials.

Previously, an Indian court ordered Telegram to comply with the country's laws and disclose information about the administrators of such channels. Representatives of the company stated that the disclosure of user data violates the laws of Singapore, where its servers are located. The court, in turn, responded that copyright holders “cannot remain without protection” due to the fact that Telegram located its servers outside of India.

The ruling, issued at the end of November, states that the offender's data will be handed over to the plaintiffs with the condition that neither they nor their lawyers will disclose this information to third parties.

A Telegram representative declined to say whether the platform shared personal data.

“Telegram stores very limited or no data about its users. In most cases, we can’t even access any user information without special tools,” company spokesperson Remy Vaughn told TechCrunch.

India is one of the largest Telegram markets in South Asia. In total, there are about 150 million messenger users registered in the region.