--- title: "Court Documents Reveal What User Data Telegram Hands Over to US Authorities" description: "Court documents in US cases showed that Telegram handed over a user's phone number, ID, and IP address to law enforcement, calling it voluntary although the request was issued via court order." date: 2026-10-17T00:38:45.826Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/telegram-user-data-us-requests tags: [telegram, data-privacy, us-law-enforcement, stored-communications-act, user-data] author: "Alexander Buran" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Court Documents Reveal What User Data Telegram Hands Over to US Authorities ![Blue Telegram messenger icon in glass style against a background of flying paper airplanes](https://xab.info/media/2026/10/17/telegram-danny-polzovateley-zaprosy-ssha/telegram-danny-polzovateley-zaprosy-ssha-1.webp) ## Key Points - Telegram handed over a user's phone number, account ID, IP address, and exact connection time to US authorities without disclosing message contents. - Telegram called the transfer voluntary, whereas the prosecution points to a court order under the Stored Communications Act. - The letter was attached to the case of a defendant accused of involvement in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. - During the preceding year of 2025, the messenger fulfilled 900 US requests regarding 2,253 users, compared to 14 requests regarding 108 people in the first nine months of 2024. Journalists from 404 Media and Court Watch, while studying recently published public court materials, discovered a Telegram messenger letter attached to a criminal case in the US. The document indicates that the company handed over a user's phone number, account ID, and IP address to American law enforcement agencies, along with the exact connection time—October 8, 2025, at 02:08:12. The contents of the correspondence were absent from the response, which essentially outlines the limit of what the messenger is willing to disclose upon request. ### “Voluntary” Transfer by Court Order The legal qualification of the action itself deserves special attention. In the letter, Telegram specifically stipulated that the transfer of information is voluntary and does not imply recognition of the US authorities' jurisdiction over the company. At the same time, prosecution documents, as follows from the case materials, indicate that the information was obtained pursuant to a court order issued under the Stored Communications Act, which regulates US law enforcement access to data stored by internet services. Thus, the exact same data transfer is characterized differently in the two documents—as a voluntary step and as the execution of a judicial requirement. ### The Case to Which the Letter Was Attached Telegram's response was attached to the case of Mahmoud Amin Ya'qub Al-Muhtadi, whom US authorities accuse of involvement in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Along with the letter, an official email address intended for receiving requests from US law enforcement agencies entered the public domain. Journalists noted that the publication of such contacts creates the risk of them being used by fraudsters impersonating government agency employees. ### The Scale of Requests from the US The practice of transferring such information to authorities is not new, but its volume has grown significantly. According to data cited by 3DNews in January 2025, over the preceding year, Telegram fulfilled 900 requests from American law enforcement agencies and provided information on 2,253 users. For comparison: during the first nine months of 2024, the company fulfilled only 14 requests affecting 108 people. The scale difference between these periods indicates a multiple increase in the activity of US agencies in requesting data from the messenger. ### Context Following Pavel Durov's Arrest The clarification of data disclosure rules occurred against the backdrop of events surrounding Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who was detained in France in August 2024. Afterward, the messenger entrenched a policy allowing the transfer of IP addresses and phone numbers upon legally justified requests. The published letter contains no data on providing the content of personal messages to US authorities, which aligns with the company's stated disclosure boundary. Nevertheless, the very fact of transferring identifying and network data under US court requirements remains documented. ## Accounts differ ### Nature and legal basis of data transfer - **Telegram:** The transfer of information is voluntary and does not imply recognition of the US authorities' jurisdiction over the company. ([3dnews.ru](https://3dnews.ru/1150053/sud-pokazal-kakie-dannie-polzovateley-telegram-raskrivaet-po-zaprosam-vlastey-ssha)) - **US Prosecution:** The information was obtained pursuant to a court order issued under the Stored Communications Act. ([3dnews.ru](https://3dnews.ru/1150053/sud-pokazal-kakie-dannie-polzovateley-telegram-raskrivaet-po-zaprosam-vlastey-ssha)) *Where they agree:* Data transfer (phone number, account ID, IP address, connection time) took place; this is confirmed by both Telegram's letter and prosecution documents. ## Fact-Check & Sources - [Суд показал, какие данные пользователей Telegram раскрывает по запросам властей США window-new](https://3dnews.ru/1150053/sud-pokazal-kakie-dannie-polzovateley-telegram-raskrivaet-po-zaprosam-vlastey-ssha) - Primary source: details of Telegram's letter (phone, ID, IP, time 08.10.2025 02:08:12), Al-Muhtadi case, request statistics (900/2253 and 14/108), context of Durov's arrest in August 2024. ## FAQ ### What specific data did Telegram hand over to US authorities? A phone number, account ID, user IP address, and exact connection time—October 8, 2025, at 02:08:12. Message contents were not transferred. ### Was the data transfer voluntary? Telegram called it voluntary in the letter and stated it does not mean recognition of US jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the prosecution points out that the information was obtained via a court order under the Stored Communications Act. ### What case is Telegram's letter attached to? The case of Mahmoud Amin Ya'qub Al-Muhtadi, whom US authorities accuse of involvement in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. ### How frequent are US requests to Telegram? According to 3DNews, over the preceding year of 2025, the messenger fulfilled 900 requests regarding 2,253 users, whereas in the first nine months of 2024 it fulfilled only 14 requests regarding 108 people.