Privacy and Data Handling with Bot API
Posted: Thu May 29, 2025 5:22 am
Media Files: Photos, videos, audio, documents, voice notes, video notes, and stickers. Bots can send existing files by file_id (if previously uploaded) or upload new files.
Locations, Contacts, Venues, Polls, Dice: Rich interactive content.
Keyboards: Custom reply keyboards and inline keyboards for structured user input.
Managing Chat Data: Bots can perform actions like:
Getting Chat Members: Retrieve a list of chat members (with basic info like user ID and status).
Managing Chat Permissions: Restrict user actions (e.g., sending messages, media).
Pinning Messages: Highlight important messages in a chat.
Deleting Messages: Remove messages from a chat.
User Profile Data: Bots can access a user's profile photos using getUserProfilePhotos to retrieve file_ids of their profile pictures.
Telegram's Bot API is designed with privacy in mind. Bots generally cannot read messages in private chats unless they are explicitly added to a group or channel, or if the user sends a direct message to the bot. In groups, bots can only read messages if they are added as administrators or if "Privacy mode" is disabled for the bot (which is generally not recommended for user privacy). Bots telegram data also cannot access a user's phone number or last seen status unless explicitly shared by the user. This "opt-in" approach to sensitive data ensures user control.
2. The Telegram API (TDLib): Full Client Data Access
The Telegram API, often referred to as TDLib (Telegram Database Library), is a much lower-level, cross-platform library that allows developers to build their own custom Telegram clients. Unlike the Bot API, which interacts with bots, TDLib provides full access to a user's Telegram account data, mirroring the functionality of an official Telegram application.
Locations, Contacts, Venues, Polls, Dice: Rich interactive content.
Keyboards: Custom reply keyboards and inline keyboards for structured user input.
Managing Chat Data: Bots can perform actions like:
Getting Chat Members: Retrieve a list of chat members (with basic info like user ID and status).
Managing Chat Permissions: Restrict user actions (e.g., sending messages, media).
Pinning Messages: Highlight important messages in a chat.
Deleting Messages: Remove messages from a chat.
User Profile Data: Bots can access a user's profile photos using getUserProfilePhotos to retrieve file_ids of their profile pictures.
Telegram's Bot API is designed with privacy in mind. Bots generally cannot read messages in private chats unless they are explicitly added to a group or channel, or if the user sends a direct message to the bot. In groups, bots can only read messages if they are added as administrators or if "Privacy mode" is disabled for the bot (which is generally not recommended for user privacy). Bots telegram data also cannot access a user's phone number or last seen status unless explicitly shared by the user. This "opt-in" approach to sensitive data ensures user control.
2. The Telegram API (TDLib): Full Client Data Access
The Telegram API, often referred to as TDLib (Telegram Database Library), is a much lower-level, cross-platform library that allows developers to build their own custom Telegram clients. Unlike the Bot API, which interacts with bots, TDLib provides full access to a user's Telegram account data, mirroring the functionality of an official Telegram application.