How data management features apply to Slack Connect

Slack Connect is a secure way to collaborate across organizations, right in Slack. Read more about how security and data management features apply when working in Slack with people from other companies.

Note: Slack is working to verify organizations to help ensure your team is collaborating with trusted organizations.

Data retention, editing, and deletion

Message and file retention

Your organization's retention settings will only apply to messages and files sent by your members. Any content sent by external people will be retained or deleted based on their organization's retention settings in Slack.

Message editing and deletion

Your organization's message editing and deletion settings will only apply to messages sent by your members. Messages can only be edited or deleted by someone from the organization from where they were sent.

Note: When you invite external people to a channel with permission only to post, only your organization will be able to set a custom retention policy for that channel.  

Enterprise Key Management 

As of September 2020, Enterprise Key Management (EKM) is available for Slack Connect and will retroactively apply. For EKM customers, only messages and files sent by members of your organization will be encrypted using your keys. Messages and files sent by external people may be encrypted with their keys if they're also EKM customers.

Export tools

On any paid plan, Workspace Owners and Workspace Admins can export data from public channels shared with other companies. On the Business+ and Enterprise Grid plans, Workspace Owners and Org Owners can apply to export data from all public channels, private channels, and direct messages (DMs) with external people. Here's what to expect from an export:

Included

• Messages from members outside the exporting organization and their Slack display names
• Links to files uploaded by members of the exporting organization

Not included

• A list of members outside of the exporting organization
• Files uploaded by people outside of the exporting organization, and any associated messages
• Message and file data from disconnected channels where external organizations have permission only to post 

Note: If another company you work with in Slack has custom retention settings for their organization, this will impact the data included in your export.

Discovery API

On the Enterprise Grid plan, Org Owners can use eDiscovery and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions to review and regulate content in Slack Connect channels and DMs.

• The Discovery API allows all organizations to read content in Slack Connect channels and DMs.
• Only messages and files sent by members of your organization in a channel or DM can be edited or deleted by the Discovery API.
• The display names of people from external organizations will be returned via the Discovery API's user methods, but not alongside the conversation history.
• Email addresses of people from external organizations will be returned via the Discovery API regardless of an organization's email display settings.