Who can read my work messages in C Chat?

Before people trust a work messenger, they want a straight answer to one question: who else can see what I write? Owners want to know they can review work conversations, and employees want to know their private messages stay private. This page maps exactly who can read what in C Chat, including the limits.

Short answer

C Chat separates two kinds of conversation, and the access rules follow from that:

• Group conversations are work records. Group members read them, and team owners and admins can audit and export them.
• Direct messages are personal. Only the people in the conversation can read them. They are not included in admin audits.

On top of that, the platform itself can access content only in two situations, moderating reported messages and legal requirements, and every such access is logged.

How who can read messages works in C Chat

The model is called auditable encryption, as opposed to end-to-end encryption. Messages are protected on the way with TLS and stored encrypted with AES-256 using a key dedicated to your organization. Because the business is the one that controls oversight of its groups, owners and admins can review group conversations when they need to, for example after an incident or a client dispute.

The full technical picture is on the security overview. Two related explainers go deeper:

• What team admins can audit and export covers the audit tools for groups.
• Why direct messages stay private explains the boundary around DMs.

Who can see what

Who	Group messages	Direct messages
Members of the group	Yes, in groups they belong to	Only their own DMs
Team owners and admins	Can audit and export the team’s group conversations	Only their own DMs
Guests (contractors, clients)	Only the groups they were invited to	Only their own DMs
Security company on CGuard Pro	Can audit groups and security-related chats with guards and office	Not other private DMs
C Chat platform	Only for reported-message moderation or legal requirements, logged	Same limited, logged basis

Two details worth knowing for security companies: with the CGuard Pro oversight model, site groups contain the on-duty guards, the office and the client, off-duty guards cannot read site groups, and fired guards are removed instantly.

What it means for owners, admins and members

If you are an owner or admin, you have a real oversight tool and a responsibility. Use audit and export for legitimate work reasons, tell your team that group chats are reviewable, and keep the admin list short. The guide to auditing team conversations responsibly covers a fair process.

If you are a member, treat groups as work records. Anything you post in a group may be reviewed by the team’s owners and admins. For a personal or sensitive conversation with a colleague, such as a health issue or a complaint, use a direct message; the private one-to-one conversations use case shows how teams handle this.

If you want to protect your number, you can set an optional @username so people can message you without seeing your phone number.

Honest limits and caveats

Clear boundaries only help if you also know where they stop:

• Recipients can share what they see. Anyone who can read a message can screenshot or forward it. No access model prevents that.
• A compromised account reads what its owner reads. Protect the phone number or email you sign in with.
• Group membership is the real control. If someone is in a group, they can read it, so remove people who no longer need access.
• Metadata is a separate question. Delivering messages requires handling information such as recipients and timing; see messaging metadata and, for personal data generally, PII.
• Not end-to-end encrypted. If your use case requires that no organization can review any conversation, a messenger built on end-to-end encryption may suit you better.

Full details are in the privacy policy. Questions can go to support@cguardpro.com.

Getting started

Create your team at getcchat.com/c, tell your staff the simple rule (groups are work records, DMs are private) and set up groups for each site, client or department.