Privacy

Telegram allows users to specify granular privacy settings, choosing which users can or can't interact with them in certain ways.

Privacy rules

Schema:

inputPrivacyValueAllowContacts#d09e07b = InputPrivacyRule;
inputPrivacyValueAllowAll#184b35ce = InputPrivacyRule;
inputPrivacyValueAllowUsers#131cc67f users:Vector<InputUser> = InputPrivacyRule;
inputPrivacyValueDisallowContacts#ba52007 = InputPrivacyRule;
inputPrivacyValueDisallowAll#d66b66c9 = InputPrivacyRule;
inputPrivacyValueDisallowUsers#90110467 users:Vector<InputUser> = InputPrivacyRule;
inputPrivacyValueAllowChatParticipants#840649cf chats:Vector<long> = InputPrivacyRule;
inputPrivacyValueDisallowChatParticipants#e94f0f86 chats:Vector<long> = InputPrivacyRule;
inputPrivacyValueAllowCloseFriends#2f453e49 = InputPrivacyRule;
inputPrivacyValueAllowPremium#77cdc9f1 = InputPrivacyRule;

privacyValueAllowContacts#fffe1bac = PrivacyRule;
privacyValueAllowAll#65427b82 = PrivacyRule;
privacyValueAllowUsers#b8905fb2 users:Vector<long> = PrivacyRule;
privacyValueDisallowContacts#f888fa1a = PrivacyRule;
privacyValueDisallowAll#8b73e763 = PrivacyRule;
privacyValueDisallowUsers#e4621141 users:Vector<long> = PrivacyRule;
privacyValueAllowChatParticipants#6b134e8e chats:Vector<long> = PrivacyRule;
privacyValueDisallowChatParticipants#41c87565 chats:Vector<long> = PrivacyRule;
privacyValueAllowCloseFriends#f7e8d89b = PrivacyRule;
privacyValueAllowPremium#ece9814b = PrivacyRule;

user#83314fca flags:# self:flags.10?true contact:flags.11?true mutual_contact:flags.12?true deleted:flags.13?true bot:flags.14?true bot_chat_history:flags.15?true bot_nochats:flags.16?true verified:flags.17?true restricted:flags.18?true min:flags.20?true bot_inline_geo:flags.21?true support:flags.23?true scam:flags.24?true apply_min_photo:flags.25?true fake:flags.26?true bot_attach_menu:flags.27?true premium:flags.28?true attach_menu_enabled:flags.29?true flags2:# bot_can_edit:flags2.1?true close_friend:flags2.2?true stories_hidden:flags2.3?true stories_unavailable:flags2.4?true contact_require_premium:flags2.10?true bot_business:flags2.11?true bot_has_main_app:flags2.13?true id:long access_hash:flags.0?long first_name:flags.1?string last_name:flags.2?string username:flags.3?string phone:flags.4?string photo:flags.5?UserProfilePhoto status:flags.6?UserStatus bot_info_version:flags.14?int restriction_reason:flags.18?Vector<RestrictionReason> bot_inline_placeholder:flags.19?string lang_code:flags.22?string emoji_status:flags.30?EmojiStatus usernames:flags2.0?Vector<Username> stories_max_id:flags2.5?int color:flags2.8?PeerColor profile_color:flags2.9?PeerColor bot_active_users:flags2.12?int = User;

---functions---

contacts.editCloseFriends#ba6705f0 id:Vector<long> = Bool;

Privacy rules indicate who can or can't do something and are specified by a PrivacyRule, and its input counterpart InputPrivacyRule.
InputPrivacyRule constructors are passed as input to methods that accept privacy rules, while PrivacyRules are contained in constructors returned by the API.

See the type page » for a full list of privacy rules and their descriptions.

One privacy rule in particular should be mentioned separately, (input)privacyValueAllowCloseFriends: this privacy rule, which can be used only when posting stories, refers exclusively to a list of "close friends", that can be modified using contacts.editCloseFriends, passing the full close friend list as a list of user IDs: note that only users in the contact list (even without a phone number) » can be added to the close friends list.

The current list of close friends can be checking which users in our contact list have the close_friend flag set in the associated user constructor, see here » for more info on how to fetch the contact list.

Privacy keys

Schema:

inputPrivacyKeyStatusTimestamp#4f96cb18 = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyChatInvite#bdfb0426 = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyPhoneCall#fabadc5f = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyPhoneP2P#db9e70d2 = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyForwards#a4dd4c08 = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyProfilePhoto#5719bacc = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyPhoneNumber#352dafa = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyAddedByPhone#d1219bdd = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyVoiceMessages#aee69d68 = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyAbout#3823cc40 = InputPrivacyKey;
inputPrivacyKeyBirthday#d65a11cc = InputPrivacyKey;

privacyKeyStatusTimestamp#bc2eab30 = PrivacyKey;
privacyKeyChatInvite#500e6dfa = PrivacyKey;
privacyKeyPhoneCall#3d662b7b = PrivacyKey;
privacyKeyPhoneP2P#39491cc8 = PrivacyKey;
privacyKeyForwards#69ec56a3 = PrivacyKey;
privacyKeyProfilePhoto#96151fed = PrivacyKey;
privacyKeyPhoneNumber#d19ae46d = PrivacyKey;
privacyKeyAddedByPhone#42ffd42b = PrivacyKey;
privacyKeyVoiceMessages#697f414 = PrivacyKey;
privacyKeyAbout#a486b761 = PrivacyKey;

account.privacyRules#50a04e45 rules:Vector<PrivacyRule> chats:Vector<Chat> users:Vector<User> = account.PrivacyRules;

updatePrivacy#ee3b272a key:PrivacyKey rules:Vector<PrivacyRule> = Update;

---functions---

account.getPrivacy#dadbc950 key:InputPrivacyKey = account.PrivacyRules;
account.setPrivacy#c9f81ce8 key:InputPrivacyKey rules:Vector<InputPrivacyRule> = account.PrivacyRules;

Privacy keys together with privacy rules » indicate what can or can't someone do and are specified by a PrivacyKey constructor, and its input counterpart InputPrivacyKey.
InputPrivacyKey constructors are passed as input to methods that accept privacy keys, while PrivacyKeys are contained in constructors returned by the API.

See the type page » for a full list of privacy keys and their descriptions.

Use account.getPrivacy to obtain the current set of rules associated to a key, and account.setPrivacy to change it.

Changing the privacy settings will trigger an updatePrivacy, sent to all currently logged in sessions of the current account.

Global privacy settings

globalPrivacySettings#734c4ccb flags:# archive_and_mute_new_noncontact_peers:flags.0?true keep_archived_unmuted:flags.1?true keep_archived_folders:flags.2?true hide_read_marks:flags.3?true new_noncontact_peers_require_premium:flags.4?true = GlobalPrivacySettings;

---functions---

account.getGlobalPrivacySettings#eb2b4cf6 = GlobalPrivacySettings;
account.setGlobalPrivacySettings#1edaaac2 settings:GlobalPrivacySettings = GlobalPrivacySettings;

Some global privacy settings can also be fetched and modified using account.getGlobalPrivacySettings and account.setGlobalPrivacySettings.

Global privacy settings are represented by the globalPrivacySettings constructor, please see the constructor page for a full description of all settings.

Require Premium for new non-contact users

user#83314fca flags:# self:flags.10?true contact:flags.11?true mutual_contact:flags.12?true deleted:flags.13?true bot:flags.14?true bot_chat_history:flags.15?true bot_nochats:flags.16?true verified:flags.17?true restricted:flags.18?true min:flags.20?true bot_inline_geo:flags.21?true support:flags.23?true scam:flags.24?true apply_min_photo:flags.25?true fake:flags.26?true bot_attach_menu:flags.27?true premium:flags.28?true attach_menu_enabled:flags.29?true flags2:# bot_can_edit:flags2.1?true close_friend:flags2.2?true stories_hidden:flags2.3?true stories_unavailable:flags2.4?true contact_require_premium:flags2.10?true bot_business:flags2.11?true bot_has_main_app:flags2.13?true id:long access_hash:flags.0?long first_name:flags.1?string last_name:flags.2?string username:flags.3?string phone:flags.4?string photo:flags.5?UserProfilePhoto status:flags.6?UserStatus bot_info_version:flags.14?int restriction_reason:flags.18?Vector<RestrictionReason> bot_inline_placeholder:flags.19?string lang_code:flags.22?string emoji_status:flags.30?EmojiStatus usernames:flags2.0?Vector<Username> stories_max_id:flags2.5?int color:flags2.8?PeerColor profile_color:flags2.9?PeerColor bot_active_users:flags2.12?int = User;

userFull#cc997720 flags:# blocked:flags.0?true phone_calls_available:flags.4?true phone_calls_private:flags.5?true can_pin_message:flags.7?true has_scheduled:flags.12?true video_calls_available:flags.13?true voice_messages_forbidden:flags.20?true translations_disabled:flags.23?true stories_pinned_available:flags.26?true blocked_my_stories_from:flags.27?true wallpaper_overridden:flags.28?true contact_require_premium:flags.29?true read_dates_private:flags.30?true flags2:# sponsored_enabled:flags2.7?true id:long about:flags.1?string settings:PeerSettings personal_photo:flags.21?Photo profile_photo:flags.2?Photo fallback_photo:flags.22?Photo notify_settings:PeerNotifySettings bot_info:flags.3?BotInfo pinned_msg_id:flags.6?int common_chats_count:int folder_id:flags.11?int ttl_period:flags.14?int theme_emoticon:flags.15?string private_forward_name:flags.16?string bot_group_admin_rights:flags.17?ChatAdminRights bot_broadcast_admin_rights:flags.18?ChatAdminRights premium_gifts:flags.19?Vector<PremiumGiftOption> wallpaper:flags.24?WallPaper stories:flags.25?PeerStories business_work_hours:flags2.0?BusinessWorkHours business_location:flags2.1?BusinessLocation business_greeting_message:flags2.2?BusinessGreetingMessage business_away_message:flags2.3?BusinessAwayMessage business_intro:flags2.4?BusinessIntro birthday:flags2.5?Birthday personal_channel_id:flags2.6?long personal_channel_message:flags2.6?int = UserFull;

---functions---

users.getIsPremiumRequiredToContact#a622aa10 id:Vector<InputUser> = Vector<Bool>;

If a user enables their new_noncontact_peers_require_premium global privacy setting, represented in user.contact_require_premium for other users, only users that have a premium account, are in our contact list, or already have a private chat with them can write to them in private.

Note that all the secondary conditions listed above must be checked separately to verify whether we can still write to the user, even if user.contact_require_premium flag is set for a user (i.e. a mutual contact will have this flag set even if we can still write to them, and so on...); to avoid doing these extra checks if we haven't yet cached all the required information (for example while displaying the chat list in the sharing UI) the users.getIsPremiumRequiredToContact method may be invoked instead, passing the list of users currently visible in the UI, returning a list of booleans that directly specify whether we can or cannot write to each user.
Alternatively, the userFull.contact_require_premium flag contains the same (fully checked, i.e. it's not just a copy of user.contact_require_premium) info returned by users.getIsPremiumRequiredToContact.

This information may then be used, for example, to display a lock near the avatar of each user that we cannot write to, with an appropriate tooltip to purchase a Premium subscription.

Note that users.getIsPremiumRequiredToContact should only be invoked if we don't have a Premium subscription, only for users whose full info (userFull + message history information) is not cached yet, as the same info can be computed locally if all the mentioned information is available, and updated automatically using the usual updates.