Advertisement
News

This Tool Shows Some Telegram Users’ Approximate Physical Location

The tool relies on Telegram's opt-in "Find People Nearby" feature, but allows searches for Telegram users globally.
A screenshot of the CCTV interface.
Image: Ivan Glinkin. Redactions by 404 Media.

A recently launched tool allows anyone to search a specific set of coordinates for Telegram users that have a certain setting enabled, and then plot their approximate physical location on a map, according to 404 Media’s own tests. The tool, dubbed “Close-Circuit Telegram Vision” or CCTV, piggybacks off an intended feature of Telegram called “Find People Nearby” which is disabled by default. The typical purpose of that feature is to find other Telegram users nearby to the current user’s physical location. The new tool, meanwhile, lets anyone search globally for people who have the setting turned on.

Advertisement