“Telegram” Cooperates With Tencent To Reveal User Information Security Risks | Telegram | Ton Fund" 1 October 2023

Telegram, a well-known communication software with 800 million active users, cooperated with Chinese Internet giant Tencent, which caused controversy. Industry insiders warned that relevant cooperation may bring various information security risks.

According to Tencent’s news on September 27, Telegram and the TON Foundation are cooperating with Tencent. Tencent developers will participate in building applications on Telegram, which is expected to turn Telegram into a “super application ecological platform” similar to WeChat, allowing third-party developers and merchants to develop small programs from games to restaurants to interact with users...

The TON Foundation is Telegram’s cryptocurrency partner and builds a platform for Telegram to interact with users...

After the news of Telegram’s cooperation with Tencent broke out, public opinion was worried that the CCP’s censorship mechanism would bring various risks to users.

On September 30, IT industry insider He Jiawei told The Epoch Times that when Tencent cooperates with Telegram, users face the risk of being monitored, and hackers can invade computers and mobile phones through monitored backdoors and steal users’ private personal data...

He Jiawei believes that Telegram’s cooperation with Tencent “should be related to the continuous penetration of Chinese capital into technology companies in Western countries.

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The human rights organization “Human Rights in China” has also warned that this cooperation may allow Telegram and third-party developers to collect large amounts of user identity data...

Telegram told RFA on September 29 that it does not share user data with third-party organizations or the Chinese government. Telegram emphasized that the TON Foundation is working with Tencent on a blockchain project, and that the TON Foundation is an independent organization that does not belong to Telegram.

The TON Foundation and Tencent have not responded to the concerns for now...