Telegram users who enable a location-based feature are unknowingly allowing others to pinpoint their exact location, Ahmed, a blogger who runs the Ahmed’s Notes blog, claimed on Monday.
He included a response from Telegram which claimed there is no flaw in the system since users need to decide if they want to share that information. However, users do not necessarily know that such information is disclosed to such an extent through the app.
The blogger goes on to show how, using an app called GPS spoof, a user has the ability to select a person nearby and present himself as being from a fake GPS location. By doing so several times, it is possible to glean the exact location of said person with each GPS location leading to Telegram informing the hacker of the person's location. For example, using google Earth would allow the hacker to know where the target resides.
The Telegram platform prides itself on offering good encryption, which is why Amos Dov Silver chose it to run Telegrass, an interactive chat used by drug dealers of marijuana to sell to a wide range of clients. Silver was extradited to Israel from Ukraine and is expecting trial.