By George Ward
Despite its claims of decentralization, Telegram has allegedly shared its user data with the Government of India. Hence, the company is facing criticism for revealing private customer information.
On November 30, Telegram’s CEO and founder Pavel Durov spoke in favor of decentralization on Twitter. Durov claims that the blockchain industry started with the promise of decentralization but went astray, leading to a consolidation of power.
Centralization Of The Crypto Industry
The control of the crypto industry ended up being concentrated in the hands of a small number of people who began abusing their authority. This represents a huge contrast to the industry’s promise of decentralization.
As a result, decentralization, or “getting back to their roots,” as Durov puts it, is the answer for blockchain ventures. He urges users to adopt self-hosted wallets and secure transactions.
Furthermore, he advertises Fragment, a decentralized auction platform built on The Open Network, often known as TON. He continued, “This was a resounding success.” Then, Durov stated that more work would be done on Fragment in the future.
A non-custodial wallet and a DEX are two other decentralized technologies that Telegram is developing. In this sense, it “can right the wrongs caused by the current excessive centralization.”
Detractors of the community contend that Telegram’s sharing of user data sharing conflicts with the tenets of the decentralization movement.
Telegram Criticized For Adhering To Government Directives
Telegram was long thought of as a safe app that protects users’ data by complying with its privacy policy. However, the app and business have faced criticism for their conduct in recent months.
However, the platform argued that it revealed the names, contact details, and IP addresses of persons accused of disseminating illegal content in response to a Delhi High Court ruling.
Telegram in India agreed to release user data, including admin names, phone numbers, and IP addresses, in response to a plea from the Delhi High Court. Telegram complied despite its objections that the disclosure goes against its privacy policies.
Nevertheless, the business declined to acknowledge whether it had spoken to a spokesman to share such information. It prompts some suspicion toward Durov’s decentralization theories.
TON has made some progress in the last months. It declared that a username auction would take place on its TON marketplace before the end of October. According to Durov, the action resulted in the sale of usernames valued at about $50 million in less than a month.
In addition, DWF Labs brought out $10 million to push TON, which is expanding its Web3 ambitions. It’s also developing the initiatives of TON that are a part of its ecosystem following a $126 million donation.