Apple turned away from Telegram

Pavel Durov explained the ban of updates to the messenger in the App Store with a lock in Russia.
31.05.2018
Kommersant
Origin source
Telegram founder Pavel Durov said that Apple is preventing the updating of the Telegram application around the world. The American corporation has blocked updates of new versions of the messenger since mid-April. Including because of this, the company can not meet the new requirements for the storage and processing of personal data of EU citizens, effective May 25.

Apple does not allow Telegram to update the iOS-based application worldwide since the Russian authorities "ordered Apple to remove" the messenger from the App Store, Pavel Durov said on Thursday in his Telegram channel. Due to the inability to update the application, some of its functions (such as stickers) do not work properly in the recently released version of iOS 11.4. "We are sure that we have done the only possible, preserving the right of our users to privacy in a troubled country," said the founder of Telegram. "Unfortunately, Apple did not support us."

On May 28, Roskomnadzor sent a letter to Apple demanding "to stop the distribution of the Telegram Messenger app on the territory of Russia, as well as sending its service push notifications to Russian users," the message says on the website of the supervisory authority. "To avoid possible actions by Roscomnadzor to disrupt the functioning of the above services, Apple, Inc. we ask you to inform us in the shortest possible time about further actions of the company aimed at solving these problem issues, "the letter says.

Despite the fact that users from Russia are only 7% of Telegram's total audience, Apple has limited updates for all messenger users around the world. Earlier, Pavel Durov stated that the instant messenger is actively used by 200 million people a month, his Russian audience is about 15 million people. "In particular, because of this (problems with updates. -" b ") Telegram could not fully comply with the new rules for processing the personal data of the GDPR," he concluded.

GDPR - entered into force on May 25, regulations of the European Union "On the protection of individuals when processing personal data and free circulation of such data." The document has two main objectives. First, it unifies and updates the European data protection legislation: until now, the directive for 1995 was the uniform guidance for the EU, but as it became obsolete, the participating countries had to develop their own legislative acts. Secondly, the regulations under the threat of serious fines (€ 20 million or 4% of the company's annual turnover whichever is greater) tightens the requirements for the collection, processing, storage and protection of personal data.

At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov, who oversees the government, in particular, communication and innovation and the implementation of the national program "Digital Economy", said today that "the topic of Telegram should not be turned into a mutual exchange of cries." "The digital sphere implies complex work to find a balance between the interests of the state, citizens and business," he said at the Startup Village conference. "It's nice to live in an open, boundless and transparent world, but sometimes it can lead to fatal consequences. We must also think about this. "

On April 13 Tagansky district court decided to immediately block access to Telegram resources in Russia, having satisfied the suit of Roskomnadzor. Since April 16, operators of communication, according to the instructions of the supervisory service, block the IP-addresses, which allow Telegram to function. At various times, the registry of banned information contained up to 20 million IP-addresses, millions are still blocked. The international human rights organization Agora, representing the interests of Telegram, filed an appeal, which the Moscow City Court will consider on June 14.

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