A Russian court on Monday fined the most popular Telegram messenger application for neglecting to supply the country's security services with file encryption secrets of read users' messaging data.
A legal court enforced an 800,000-ruble fine (about $14,000/ EUR 12,000) over Telegram's failure to "provide police force agencies with information" about its users as well as their messages, TASS news agency reported.
The disposable im application, which lets people exchange messages, pics and vids in groups as high as 5,000 people, has attracted about 100 million users since its launch in 2013.
Telegram's self-exiled Russian founder Pavel Durov stated in September the FSB had required backdoor access.
When Telegram didn't supply the file encryption keys, the FSB launched a proper complaint.
Based on a scan from the complaint published online by Durov, the FSB had sent instructions to Telegram in This summer demanding "information essential to decode users' sent, received, delivered and processed electronic messages".
The fine may be the latest relocate a continuing dispute between Telegram and also the Russian government bodies as Moscow pushes to improve surveillance of internet activities.
In June, Russia's condition communications watchdog threatened to ban the application for neglecting to provide registration documents. Although Telegram later registered, it stopped lacking saying yes to the data storage demands.
Companies around the register must supply the FSB with info on user interactions.
Beginning from 2018, they have to also keep all data from users in Russia based on questionable anti-terror legislation passed this past year that was decried by internet companies and also the opposition.
Telegram presently has ten days to appeal Monday's decision. If the appeal fails, the organization will be presented a elegance period to give its file encryption keys and might be blocked in Russia.
Requested in regards to a potential block from the service, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated: "So far as I understand... there's no discussion of the block at the moment.Inch
