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Resolve one of the main way to track users: user ID
Mario, Apr 28, 2021 at 21:17
OpenSuggestionGeneral

Every user has an unique ID.
Every message sent on Telegram could be related to an user account...even if it has been deleted (the user ID remains the same even after the account is deleted)!
In addition user IDs could be used (and ARE USED) to track groups a particular user has joined (that's even easier with public groups), name & nickname user changes etc.
The data you can gain throughout user IDs is astonishing and it could be sufficient to profile a person.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

  1. When an account has been deleted its ID must be removed and made hidden for everyone, this way every "deleted account" is identical to the other and it would make an eventual profiling really difficult.
  2. I don't know if this could be implemented but: make users have multiple IDs that are unique for every chat. Example:
    The same user could have
    -ID [0000] for group X
    -ID [1234] for group Y
    -ID [2021] for private chat Z
    And so on.
    In this way the traceability throughout IDs would be impossible.

(these two solutions aren't mutually exclusive and could be implemented together)

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D
Deleted Account Apr 28, 2021
Disagree. This doesn't make sense.

First of all, Telegram doesn't track you, your name, usernames or the groups you are part of. And even if they do, they will delete the data shortly after.

Third party bots may track you, but it's up to you to decide whether to let them track you or not: https://telegram.org/privacy#6-bot-messages. Bots will get your public account data only when you start them or participate in a group they are part of.

However, bots should ask you for your permission before they access your data or you make it available to them: https://telegram.org/privacy#6-4-bots-are-not-maintained-by-telegram. If you know a bot is tracking you and you didn't give it your permission, assert your rights and report that bot.

Last but not least, your proposed solutions make no sense and are impossible to implement.
Mario Apr 28, 2021
Deleted Account
Disagree. This doesn't make sense. First of all, Telegram doesn't track you, your name, usernames or the groups you are part of. And even if they do, they will delete the data shortly after. Third party bots may track you, but it's up to you to decide whether to let them track you or not: https://telegram.org/privacy#6-bot-messages. Bots will get your public account data only when you start them or participate in a group they are part of. However, bots should ask you for your permission before they access your data or you make it available to them: https://telegram.org/privacy#6-4-bots-are-not-maintained-by-telegram. If you know a bot is tracking you and you didn't give it your permission, assert your rights and report that bot. Last but not least, your proposed solutions make no sense and are impossible to implement.
First of all, I never said that Telegram was the one tracking me. I was talking about people outside Telegram: like me, you and an oppressive government ;)
(btw neither me and you can say with 100% certainty that it's tracking us or not but since we use this app we both trust in it...)


"Bots will get your public account data only when you start them or participate in a group they are part of."
Really? So explain me how this bot can tell in which public group people are without having to joining in the chat: @tgscanrobot :P
And moreover: if I disseminate userbots/bots in Telegram groups I can easily get a stocked database. Not mention to the fact that the same user could have access to the people ID.
The worst thing is that even after deleting the account people can still see the user ID related to ALL the messages sent by them (including the 'join announcement' you can see in the groups)

"They should ask you for your permission before they access your data or you make it available to them."
Which data you're talking about?
User ID can be obtained really easily and I've never seen a bot asking the permission for it. Adding the fact that even users can get user IDs (with no permission).


"Last but not least, your proposed solutions make no sense and are impossible to implement."
Could you argue argue why?
D
Deleted Account Apr 29, 2021
Mario
First of all, I never said that Telegram was the one tracking me. I was talking about people outside Telegram: like me, you and an oppressive government ;) (btw neither me and you can say with 100% certainty that it's tracking us or not but since we use this app we both trust in it...) "Bots will get your public account data only when you start them or participate in a group they are part of." Really? So explain me how this bot can tell in which public group people are without having to joining in the chat: @tgscanrobot :P And moreover: if I disseminate userbots/bots in Telegram groups I can easily get a stocked database. Not mention to the fact that the same user could have access to the people ID. The worst thing is that even after deleting the account people can still see the user ID related to ALL the messages sent by them (including the 'join announcement' you can see in the groups) "They should ask you for your permission before they access your data or you make it available to them." Which data you're talking about? User ID can be obtained really easily and I've never seen a bot asking the permission for it. Adding the fact that even users can get user IDs (with no permission). "Last but not least, your proposed solutions make no sense and are impossible to implement." Could you argue argue why?
Since you weren't mentioning any entity, I made the most generic examples I could think of: Telegram itself and third party bots. My bad.

I only mentioned what Telegram's Privacy Policy says about your user data and bots. Of course people will always be able to see your public account info if you have an username or are in a group they're part of. Bots are also able to do that (using MTProto), and the privacy policy clearly indicates they can do so (https://telegram.org/privacy#6-3-what-data-bots-receive, first paragraph).

You are not forced to use your real name on Telegram. If you really care about your privacy and you are afraid of being tracked, there are a couple added things you could do: remove your username, use a nickname and not your real name, only join groups created by people you trust the most. There's no real way to prevent people from tracking your data if your account is public or part of a public group.

Once you delete your account you won't be able to edit or delete its messages. You should delete them before deleting your account, since you can always delete your messages before leaving a group: https://telegram.org/privacy#10-2-messages.

User IDs are fundamental. Without them you wouldn't be able to private message other users, identify them in groups, add them to your contacts or interact with them in any other way: Telegram's ecosystem needs them to work, and it cannot be changed at this point. Your ID will be the first thing a bot will see about you, how could he message you otherwise?
D
Deleted Account Apr 29, 2021
Talking about your proposed solutions:

1. Each account has an ID that allows you to distinguish it from other accounts. Removing IDs from deleted accounts would break many things. Most importantly, you would not be able to distinguish two separated chats with deleted accounts, retrieve and delete old messages or simply remove them from groups.

2. This proposed solution is chaotic, expensive, really complicated and wouldn't work with the Telegram ecosystem (because of usernames and user mentions). If you consider how many resources would be involved, this is certainly impossible.
There are currently over 1.8 billion account on Telegram (active accounts + deleted accounts). Consider that anybody can join a maximum of 500 supergroups/channels and an infinite number of normal groups. Moreover, you can join and leave an infinite amount of groups.
In an optimistic scenario, if you consider the current user amount, this would mean that 1.8*10^9 * 500 = 900 BILLION different IDs are mapped to 1.8 billion users. Since Telegram is growing day by day at an insane speed, this number would increase exponentially. Do you have any idea how many resources and how much computation power would be needed to do this?
Mario Apr 29, 2021
Deleted Account
Since you weren't mentioning any entity, I made the most generic examples I could think of: Telegram itself and third party bots. My bad. I only mentioned what Telegram's Privacy Policy says about your user data and bots. Of course people will always be able to see your public account info if you have an username or are in a group they're part of. Bots are also able to do that (using MTProto), and the privacy policy clearly indicates they can do so (https://telegram.org/privacy#6-3-what-data-bots-receive, first paragraph). You are not forced to use your real name on Telegram. If you really care about your privacy and you are afraid of being tracked, there are a couple added things you could do: remove your username, use a nickname and not your real name, only join groups created by people you trust the most. There's no real way to prevent people from tracking your data if your account is public or part of a public group. Once you delete your account you won't be able to edit or delete its messages. You should delete them before deleting your account, since you can always delete your messages before leaving a group: https://telegram.org/privacy#10-2-messages. User IDs are fundamental. Without them you wouldn't be able to private message other users, identify them in groups, add them to your contacts or interact with them in any other way: Telegram's ecosystem needs them to work, and it cannot be changed at this point. Your ID will be the first thing a bot will see about you, how could he message you otherwise?
"only join groups created by people you trust the most"
That's really simple to say but extremely difficult to do, especially if you're under an oppressive government and you want to communicate with people outside of it.
The first layer of security must be provided by Telegram.

"You should delete them before deleting your account, since you can always delete your messages before leaving a group"
1) Telegram allows you to delete 100 message per time (selecting them one-by-one), that makes the procedure extremely slow and discouraging.
2) What about 'joining announcement ' messages and groups in which I'm banned (or groups that for any reason I have no more access to)?
3)Telegram Privacy Policy [1] says: "In supergroups and channels, deleting a message removes it for all participants." What about 'normal groups'?


[1] https://telegram.org/privacy#10-2-messages
Mario Apr 29, 2021
Deleted Account
Talking about your proposed solutions: 1. Each account has an ID that allows you to distinguish it from other accounts. Removing IDs from deleted accounts would break many things. Most importantly, you would not be able to distinguish two separated chats with deleted accounts, retrieve and delete old messages or simply remove them from groups. 2. This proposed solution is chaotic, expensive, really complicated and wouldn't work with the Telegram ecosystem (because of usernames and user mentions). If you consider how many resources would be involved, this is certainly impossible. There are currently over 1.8 billion account on Telegram (active accounts + deleted accounts). Consider that anybody can join a maximum of 500 supergroups/channels and an infinite number of normal groups. Moreover, you can join and leave an infinite amount of groups. In an optimistic scenario, if you consider the current user amount, this would mean that 1.8*10^9 * 500 = 900 BILLION different IDs are mapped to 1.8 billion users. Since Telegram is growing day by day at an insane speed, this number would increase exponentially. Do you have any idea how many resources and how much computation power would be needed to do this?
1) If deleting user IDs (after the account is deleted) could break the working of Telegram, they can at least hide it for everyone except Telegram itself. So users and bots could never see them.

2) Indeed, I said "I don't know if this could be implemented but...". Currently, only a Telegram developer could give us an answer.
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