Telegram has started testing a system that will give users a premium subscription in exchange for using their numbers to send SMS one-time PINs (OTPs).
The feature is called Peer-to-Peer login (P2PL) and is still in the testing phase.
By agreeing to Telegram’s Terms of Service, your number will be used to send a maximum of 150 monthly OTP messages.
Users must understand that Telegram cannot guarantee the anonymity of your number and that you may incur charges from your service provider.
P2PL relies on an honour system, as Telegram will place a lot of responsibility in the hands of the user.
“Conversely, you agree not to contact any OTP recipients outside the scope of your involvement in P2PL,” the terms and conditions state.
Nothing prohibits users from collecting numbers that Telegram has sent OTPs to.
This means that both those sending and receiving OTPs are at risk of having their numbers collected by spam callers or other malicious actors.
Those who fail to abide by the conditions will be removed from the programme and have their premium membership revoked.
Telegram’s premium subscriptions include features such as no ads, 4GB file uploads, faster download speeds, animated profile pictures, and voice-to-text conversion.
The subscription is R89.99 in South Africa.
Therefore, users should consider carefully whether sending a maximum of 150 SMS messages per month — some of which could be sent internationally — is cheaper than paying for Telegram Premium.
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