A guide to getting your data from Telegram
Your Telegram app stores a lot of information about you in the cloud. Here we show you how to gain access to it.
It's important to understand how much of your data is stored in the cloud. Why? Because our research exposes that law enforcement can use cloud extraction techniques to obtain vast quantities of your data. These techniques means law enforcement can circumvent asking companies like Telegram for your data and avoid getting a warrant. So the use of this technology means there is no limit on what they can obtain, no transparency and no clear, accessible or effective legal safeguards to protect your data from risk of abuse and misuse.
Tools such as the Oxygen Forensic Cloud Extractor can be used to acquire “data from the most popular cloud services” including WhatsApp, iCloud, Google, Microsoft, Mi Cloud, Huawei, Samsung, E-Mail (IMAP) Servers and more - “also various social media services are supported to include but not limited to: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many more.”
The information you share on Telegram can be very revealing. It can also be misinterpreted by law enforcement agencies and used to profile individuals. Once installed on a device, depending on your settings, the Twitter app has access to information such as your location, contact information and media stored on the same device. All of this data can be accessed remotely using cloud extraction technology.
How to find out what data Telegram stores about you
a) In order to be able to access your data, you will need to download the Telegram desktop app. You will not be able to access your data from the phone app itself.
b) Open your Telegram desktop app and ensure you are signed into your Telegram account.
c) On the desktop app's homescreen, click on the three horizontal lines on the top left corner to open the app menu. Once the menu pops up, select "Settings".
d) On the screen that shows the 'Settings' options, scroll down to the 'Privacy and Security' option, then select 'Export Telegram Data'.
e) When you select the option to 'Export Telegram Data,' you will see a number of information categories that you can export ranging from 'Account information', 'personal chats' and 'contact list'. Please select the information categories you wish to access.
f) You can choose the format you wish to export your data in. Choose to either export it in human readable HTML or in machine-readable JSON format, then click 'Export.'
g) When you have clicked 'Export' the desktop app will collate the requested information. When that process is done, you will be able to click on the 'Show My Data' button.
Limiting data Telegram collects about you
a) Unfortunately, you cannot limit the location data that Telegram collects about you.
b) However, if you want to find out more about the steps you can take to safeguard your privacy whilst using Telegram, you can read our Telegram good practices guide.
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