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Group Type: Internal vs External
Overview
SeaTalk group chats are tied to an organization and classified as either Internal or External to safeguard communication and prevent data leakage.
Key Concepts
Organization-based Group Ownership
Each group chat belongs to a specific organization, based on the organization of the group creator (owner).
Internal vs External Group Type
The group type — Internal or External — is determined by whether all invited members belong to the same organization as the group's ownership.
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Internal Group: Used for internal communication within an organization. All members are from the same organization.
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External Group: Used for communication with people outside the organization. At least one invited member is from a different organization.
Visual Indicators
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Group-level: External groups display an “External” label in the chat-list and chat header. Groups without this label are internal groups.
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User-level: Within the member list, individual users from outside your organization are marked with an “External” tag beside their names.
Policy Enforcement
To ensure data security and prevent information leakage:
- Internal groups restrict membership to organization members only.
- Department groups are internal groups and cannot include external contacts outside the organization to which the department belongs.
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External groups allow cross-organization communication but are clearly labeled.
Convert an Internal Group into an External Group
Group owners and admins can convert eligible internal groups into external groups when collaboration with external users is needed.
When attempting to add users outside the organization into an internal group, SeaTalk will provide the following options:
- Convert the existing group into an external group
- Create a new external group instead
After conversion:
- The existing group becomes an external group permanently
- External members can be added into the same group
- The group will display the “External” label
- A system notification will appear in the chatroom to inform members about the conversion
If you do not want to convert the current internal group, you can choose to create a separate external group instead.
When creating or converting to an external group, you can also configure the chat history visibility for newly added members.
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