Old version
June 28, 2026 00:24 UTC
65490290e7e91f42131f735fb9619fce8d880833dea22bbfcb0f220a026ccc8a
CA-V-004271
New version
August 22, 2026 00:29 UTC
5daddd66ce6737c6b20b7e0055120273c72f442a67fa3b512b7eb9af5a88ce03
CA-V-005999
Share 𝕏 Share in Share
Change Summary
Telegram's privacy policy was updated on August 22, 2026 to clarify and expand its advertising practices. The updated terms specify that ads are not based on the contents of private chats or contact lists, but may be shown in public channels (with 1,000+ subscribers), bots, stories, and search results based on channel topic, search terms, or approximate geographic location derived from phone number area code or IP address. The revised language also introduces new disclosure about how users following large public channels may see category-based ads, and states that targeting data is never passed to advertisers.
low severity
15 Sentences added
0 Sentences removed
5 Sentences modified
183 Sentences before
198 Sentences after
Added
Removed
Modified
BeforeAfter
3For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, ‘we’ , ‘us’ and ‘our’ refers to Telegram, and ‘you’ refers to you, the user of the Services. 1.1 Privacy Principles Telegram has two fundamental principles when it comes to collecting and processing private data: We don't use your data to show you ads.3For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, ‘we’ , ‘us’ and ‘our’ refers to Telegram, and ‘you’ refers to you, the user of the Services. 1.1 Privacy Principles Telegram has two fundamental principles when it comes to collecting and processing private data: We don't use the contents of any of your chats or contact lists to show you ads.
76To turn this feature off and delete the relevant data, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Data Settings and disable “Suggest Frequent Contacts”. 5.6. No Ads Based on User Data Unlike other services, we don't use your data for ad targeting or other commercial purposes.76To turn this feature off and delete the relevant data, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Data Settings and disable “Suggest Frequent Contacts”. 5.6. No Ads Based on Contents of Chats or Contact Lists Unlike other services, we don't use the contents of your private chats or contacts lists for ad targeting or other commercial purposes.
78Telegram offers a tool for advertisers to promote their messages in public one-to-many channels , but these sponsored messages are based solely on the topic of the public channels in which they are shown.78Telegram offers a tool for advertisers to promote their messages in public one-to-many channels (with 1,000 subscribers or more), as well as in bots, stories, and Telegram’s public search.
79No user data is mined or analyzed to display ads or sponsored messages. 6.79By default, these sponsored messages are based solely on the topic of the public channels or search terms in which they are shown.
80No contents of private chats or contacts lists are mined or analyzed to display ads or sponsored messages.
81Telegram Premium users don’t see ads and are not affected by the Telegram Ad Platform . 5.6.1. Additional advertising tools Non-intrusive advertising models help us sustain our Services.
82The data relied upon to serve ads is processed on the basis of Telegram’s legitimate interest of delivering effective and innovative Services to you.
83This data cannot be disclosed to any third parties – advertisers included.
84Telegram Premium users don’t see ads and are not affected by the Ad Platform.
85Targeting-related data referenced in this section is not processed for such users.
86In large public one-to-many channels (with 1,000 subscribers or more ), and public search results, ads may be shown based on the language of the content – however, that language may be common to several different countries.
87To keep ads relevant, ads can be shown in a particular country and city , approximated based on the country and area code of a user's phone number or their IP address.
88This data is never passed to advertisers, no other geolocation data is used, and no precise location-tracking is involved for these purposes.
89This makes it possible for advertisers to restrict ad visibility to certain countries or regions – for instance, creating an ad for Spanish-speaking audiences but opting not to display it within Spain.
90Users following a sufficient number of large public one-to-many channels (e.g., Finance, Business & Entrepreneurship, or Humor & Memes ), may see ads from that category in other large public channels or in other bots as well.
91Users may also see ads selected on the basis of the channels they follow.
92This data is never passed to advertisers.
93Your rights described in section 9 below remain unaffected. 6.
169February 3, 2022 Updated 8.4 and 8.5 to reflect the new premium feature that allows translating entire chats.183February 3, 2023 Updated 8.4 and 8.5 to reflect the new premium feature that allows translating entire chats.
190August 21, 2026 The Privacy Policy was updated to describe geographic limitations and other advertising tools that may affect the ways how ads are displayed.
Stay ahead of the changes

Watch this before it changes again

Follow unlimited companies, monitor the clauses that matter across every platform, and get the full institutional analysis on what each change obligates you to do.