Explained | How do Telegram bots function?

On June 12, reports came out which alleged that a Telegram bot had access to and was presenting the identification numbers of the documents submitted for vaccination purposes which includes Aadhaar, PAN card, and even passport numbers of individuals. Any developer with some skills in computer programming or a third-party service provider can create a Telegram bot using the platform’s bot API. The platform assists the creation of bots through “Botfather” a virtual user designed to be the central development tool for Telegram bots. Telegram requires bots created using its Bot API to be registered using an authentication token generated by the platform. Bots may collect user data, including personal information and chat history and users should read the terms of service and privacy policy to understand how individual bots handle user data.