Understand direct message privacy

Channels are shared rooms — everyone in them can read what’s posted, and they’re moderated like community spaces. Direct messages are built on a different promise, and it’s worth stating plainly.

The promise

A direct message is between the two of you. Nobody else at the school — not moderators, not board members, not admins — can browse or read your direct messages. They also aren’t reviewed by the AI screening that watches channels. The only automatic check is your school’s blocked-terms list, which looks at each message as it’s sent, the same way a spam filter does — no person involved.

Direct messages also stay out of the school’s records: when a school exports its data, direct message conversations aren’t included.

The one exception: reporting

If either person in a conversation reports a message from it, that report is what opens the conversation to your school’s moderators — they can then see the thread to judge the report fairly. Two things keep that honest:

• Only a participant can trigger it. Nobody outside the conversation can report (or read) your messages.
• Every time a moderator opens a reported conversation, it’s recorded in the moderation audit log — looking is never invisible.

So the practical rule: your direct messages are private until the person you’re talking to asks the school to look.

What this means day to day

• Write to the person, knowing the school isn’t reading over your shoulder — and knowing the other person can always show a moderator if you cross a line.
• Real names only: channel nicknames don’t apply in direct messages, so you always know exactly who you’re talking to.
• Privacy isn’t the same as reachability — you control who can start a conversation with you at all: see Control who can message you directly.