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Updated EU Privacy Changes to Messenger API and SegMate

Article8 min readUpdated Feb 23, 2025View source ↗
February Updates: Let's celebrate! just recently Facebook has declared the intended rollback of the December 16th, 2020 EEA modifications. The EEA restrictions reshaped thousands of SegMate users, so the return of Messenger and SegMate features will help those in Europe support the full power of SegMate for amazing chatbot marketing activities. This implies that the features of Facebook Messenger and SegMate that were previously restricted or non-functional will work again. However, these restrictions are not returning immediately. These will be restored gradually. The affected features will return in periodic phases. One set of features will return in Q1 of 2021, and another will succeed in Q2. We will update this article once we have more information as we do not have the exact date of the restorations. To add to this announcement, according to several inspections of our team, one feature has been restored recently. These are our Persistent Buttons that are attached to our messages that can trigger additional messages or actions. Q1 Planned Feature Rollback Sending and receiving images and media Persistent Menu Referral URLs Q2 Planned Feature Rollback Message Analytics and Statistics JSON Ad One-Time Notifications Typing Indicator January Updates: In place of the ongoing compliance of Facebook to comply with the privacy law in Europe, we formerly wrote that Referral URLs wouldn't engage with SegMate flows but according to several tests of our team and testimonies of our users, we have ruled that Referral URLs functions normally and will continue to fire automation. SegMate won't be able to collect accurate information when it comes to some of Facebook Messenger's inflow statistics such as Message Delivery status, Open Status, and Receive or Read Status, etc. Due to the EU privacy changes, SegMate won't be able to gather technical information about the mentioned Facebook Messenger's inflow statistics. Please read this guide carefully as this coming 16th of December Facebook will place restrictions on Facebook Messenger APIs that will affect your utilization. This is to comply with the new privacy rules in Europe, These alterations will also affect your usage of SegMate. The upcoming modifications are described in this article to serve as a guide with the upcoming changes. Numerous Messenger APIs will be unavailable for developers and businesses in Europe. Also, for people who connect with businesses globally. Who will be affected by these changes? Several Messenger API's will be unavailable for developers and businesses in Europe, and for people in Europe who connect with businesses globally. There’s a possibility that even if you are located outside EU you still might be affected. All of the 30 European Economic Area (EEA) countries, which includes: · All 27 European Union member states · Norway · Iceland · Liechtenstein · United Kingdom European pages Your Facebook page will be affected, if it is located within Europe, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and the United Kingdom. Subscribers If subscribers are located in Europe, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and United Kingdom your SegMate account should function as it is. The changes will only affect your conversations with European subscribers. Page Admins Your entire Facebook page will be affected, If one of your admins is located in Europe, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and the United Kingdom. Which elements will be affected Android and iOS Media elements(Card, Gallery, Video, Audio, and File) will only be received on Android and iOS. Buttons attached to the elements will work as they should, and trigger automation actions. Other Devices Media elements(Card, Gallery, Video, Audio, and File) won't render on web clients and Chat Plugins. Subscribers will receive an "Attachment Unavailable" error message. Buttons attached to the elements won't render as well and receive an "Attachment Unavailable" error message. Already sent Media elements and elements with buttons attached will render fine on either device but subscribers won't be able to take any action on them except they are on Android and iOS. One Time Notifications and Typing indicator won't work on either device. Already sent One Time Notifications message will render but they won't trigger automation actions. Several features will not be functioning starting the 16th of December Persistent Menu The persistent menu won't be shown to subscribers, Use keyword menu to show the persistent menu options as messages with quick replies. Sending and Receiving Media Attachments (except Images) Images is expected to function normally. Audio (mp3 or wav), Media and Files (pdf, .ppt, .pptx, .pptm, .doc, .docx, .docm, .zip) are restricted. We can no longer send nor receive these attachments. OTN (One-Time Notifications) OTNs won’t be delivered as well as collecting OTNs is restricted. This restriction will also take effect on the OTN’s that were collected prior to the 16th of December. Delay Typing This element designed to let your subscribers feel that they are communicating with a human will no longer be visible to your subscribers. Custom Audiences of Subscribers in Facebook Creating a custom audience will no longer be available. Facebook plugins won't function normally M.me Links M.me link will take a subscriber/non-subscriber to the messenger but won't fire any bot. Send to Messenger and Checkbox: Send to Messenger (Preview) and Checkbox plugins won't render and they will appear broken. Customer Chat: Customer chat will work normally except for guest users. Upgrade dialog can't be shown to guest users to log in to their account. What you can do? Page Admins If any of your page admins are located in Europe, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and United Kingdom, your subscribers' interaction with the bots will be subject to EU policy whether they are in the EU or not. To get rid of this restriction remove your page admin who is located in the EU, If necessary. Facebook Page > Page Settings > Page Roles. Go to Existing Page Roles Then, click on one of the Admins and click Edit then Remove and Save Persistent Menu Alternative Leverage keywords automation in your bot. Create a menu keyword to show the persistent menu options as messages to your subscribers. Because, After the 16th December persistent menu will be disabled for all EU users. Create separate flows for mobile/EU users Ask your subscribers at the start of the bot, If they are on mobile or web client. Make separate flows according to their selection and use quick replies so, they can be visible to either of them. An example can be shown What SegMate will do? Send Alternate messages for affected elements Audio, Video, and File SegMate will send a simple text element with a link to the media, For example: When you send an Audio file to a subscriber, SegMate will convert it into the text form as shown in the image. An example screenshot of the audio file Card and Gallery Work in progress Menu keyword bot We can create a bot according to persistent menu options for each user Features that are not affected by the Dec 16 EU Privacy Change TAGS QUICK REPLIES WELCOME MESSAGE m.me Links and Referral URLs KEYWORD AUTOMATION WORKAROUNDS Preview Button If the PREVIEW function is not working try to refresh your permission under SETTINGS then click FACEBOOK PAGE SYNC. https://drive.google.com/file/d/13qGFqx42O5_3wNn3rlOqmNE2UeTBs18D/view?usp=sharing Another option is to re-engage your chatbot by using a KEYWORD. If still doesn’t work set a KEYWORD to trigger the flow you want to preview. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xv2cTxdDyVi7VXAF329LbkUKzhYA_2OE/view?usp=sharing https://help.segmate.io/article/20-keywords-tutorial Chatbot not responding If all of a sudden your chatbot has stopped responding where it requires to answer a question try to add a default reply. You may also add user input to open a conversation. https://help.segmate.io/article/15-default-reply How to restart a flow Some users didn't click on a certain button or follow the prompts on a question, instead, they typed their own answers in, and the flow just stopped there. Instead of quick replies, use a multiple-choice user input that makes them choose one of the buttons (We can add up to 3 buttons or if you want to add more than 3 buttons you can utilize gallery.) Use buttons instead of quick replies so that the button doesn’t disappear when they type something. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yf_WFLPR2lTRt9Dy197FpE5GPKPR2Cd1/view?usp=sharing Incoming messages on Facebook Messenger ends up in DONE or SPAM or didn't show up at all. Go to your Page Settings> Advanced Messaging and then from the Connected Apps make sure the primary receiver is SegMate. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UfVzHZXO_zDTV9wL5_8O1XAlBPWtbluN/view?usp=sharing Files/Media Since attaching files like PDFs and video were restricted and you need to share a file with your leads you may upload the files in Google Drive or Dropbox or any similar site and attach the link to a button. You may also link videos using an external host like Youtube Blocked on Messenger by Facebook Some EU users reported they were blocked on Messenger by Facebook all of a sudden. So we suggest avoiding utilizing message tags after 24h and continuously monitor your blocked conversion on the dashboard. Persistent and Dynamic Menus might not function like before It's recommended that you utilize keyword triggers that will lead to another flow and will serve as a menu. You may inform your users that they can type keywords such as Menu or Get Started to navigate to a certain part of the bot. SegMate will no longer be able to notify if your page is under some kind of violation of Facebook Due to these restrictions, SegMate won't be able to notify us regarding some violations. So be sure to check your Facebook inbox regularly as the notification will only be available there. Go to your Facebook Page Settings then scroll down and look for Page Support Inbox https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EviVRWOMvuGLLHICiyMWLsDVpNrILjEm/view?usp=sharing Messages are being sent twice Try to refresh permission under settings https://drive.google.com/file/d/13qGFqx42O5_3wNn3rlOqmNE2UeTBs18D/view?usp=sharing
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