Telegram is now reaping the advantages of the furore over the updated privacy policy of WhatsApp, as the
the platform has now reached 500 million monthly active users with 25 million joining in the last 72 hours.
The fact was recently verified by Telegram founder Pavel Durov on his personal Telegram channel.
Though India-specific user figures were not specified by Telegram, 38 per cent of new users were from Asia, 27 per cent from Europe, 21 per cent from Latin America and 8% from MENA (the Middle East and North Africa).
“We’ve had surges of downloads before, throughout our 7-year history of protecting user privacy. But this time is different. People no longer want to exchange their privacy for free services…With half a billion active users and accelerating growth, Telegram has become the largest refuge for those seeking a communication platform committed to privacy and security,” said Pavel Durov.
“Unlike other popular apps, Telegram doesn’t have shareholders or advertisers to report to. We don’t do deals with marketers, data miners or government agencies. Since the day we launched in August 2013 we haven’t disclosed a single byte of our users’ private data to third parties,” he added.
After WhatsApp revised its privacy policy, which included a controversial shift in connecting WhatsApp user data to other products and services from Facebook, applications such as Telegram and Signal witnessed a massive growth in downloads and usage.
WhatsApp, which has more than 400 million users in India, ranks the country among the world’s largest markets.
