• Source:JND
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Messaging app Telegram is giving away some of its users access to its Premium service if they join its "SMS initiative". However, this should raise eyebrows before you even think of giving consent to the service. The catch here is - in exchange for free Premium, the company will use your mobile number to send 100 login SMS/month.

Spotted by the 'Telegram Info English' channel, this can be a big privacy trade-off as the participants will see the phone number of the recipients when the SMS is shared, Android Police reported. While this raises a question at first glance, the terms of Telegram say participants must not contact the mobile numbers. The new 'Peer-to-Peer Login Program' is now live in some countries (including Indonesia) for Android users.

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These login messages are charged on the user's purse and Telegram does not compensate for the carrier rates. After users reach a minimum limit, a gift code with Telegram Premium (for a month) will be given to the user. OTPs sent via this program will be recognisable as send from another Telegram user. The SMS relay initiative will only be available to 0.01 per cent of the users, according to a screengrab shared by @AssembleDebug on X (formerly Twitter).

The Verge noted the company could have thought of bypassing SMS fees via the program. The mobile numbers of participants of a P2PL Program will be visible to the recipient. According to the policy terms, Telegram is not responsible for any "inconvenience, harassment or harm resulting from unwanted, unauthorised or illegal actions" by users. It also noted that contacting recipients is strictly restricted.

 The violations of the terms of the P2PL program leave ample room for privacy breaches. (Image:Pexels)

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Revealing or sharing personal information of the recipients may lead to termination from the program and "may also result in legal action". The violations of the terms leave ample room for privacy breaches, data leaks, spamming and more. The red flags and revealing of phone numbers to strangers (which might open doors to spam and other challenges) are among the core reasons why you should not sign up for the service.