Group Type: Internal vs External

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Messenger

Overview

SeaTalk group chats are tied to an organization and classified as either Internal or External to safeguard communication and prevent data leakage.

The group type is set when the group is created and cannot be changed afterward.

Each group chat belongs to a specific organization, based on the organization of the group creator (owner).

The group type — Internal or External — is determined by whether all invited members belong to the same organization as the group's ownership.

Internal Group: Used for internal communication within an organization. All members are from the same organization.
External Group: Used for communication with people outside the organization. At least one invited member is from a different organization.

Group-level: External groups display an “External” label in the chat-list and chat header. Groups without this label are internal groups.
User-level: Within the member list, individual users from outside your organization are marked with an “External” tag beside their names.

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.
- When you attempt to invite external contacts into an internal group, you’ll receive a prompt and can choose to create a new group for external communication.

External groups allow cross-organization communication but are clearly labeled.

Updated 27 Nov, 2025

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