Incident #8F78CB · 22 AUG 2026major
Telegram narrows its no-ads-from-data promise to chat contents and contact lists
Telegram's old promise not to use your data for ads is now limited to the contents of private chats and contact lists. A new section says ads may be targeted by approximate country and city (from phone number area code or IP address) and by which large public channels you follow. Ads also expand to bots, stories and public search; Premium users see no ads.
Taken from you
- Blanket promise that your data is not used to show ads is now limited to chat contents and contact lists
- Approximate location (country/city from phone number or IP) may be used for ad targeting
- Channels you follow may be used to select ads shown to you
- Ads now appear in bots, stories and public search, not only public channels
Won back
- Stated that targeting data is not passed to advertisers
- Stated that no precise location tracking is used for ads
- Telegram Premium users don't see ads and aren't targeted
- Statement that user rights in section 9 remain unaffected
Evidence · 4 of 4 quotes matched in source
We don't use the contents of any of your chats or contact lists to show you ads.+ inserted · ✓ matched in source
To 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.+ inserted · ✓ matched in source
Users may also see ads selected on the basis of the channels they follow.+ inserted · ✓ matched in source
Archived version ↗ · 508 words changed