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Overview

Media files on Periskope (images, videos, audio, and documents) are now served through Periskope URLs (https://api.periskope.app/app/media/...) instead of direct Google Cloud Storage bucket links. Previously, anyone with a media link could open it forever. With Media Privacy, you control who can access your organization’s media and for how long — links can require authentication and expire automatically.
Media Privacy is off by default. Until you enable it, media URLs simply moved to the new Periskope domain and remain publicly accessible — nothing else changes for you.

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How Media Access Works

When a media URL is opened, Periskope checks your organization’s privacy setting and then redirects to a short-lived storage URL that serves the actual file:
  1. In the Periskope app — access is granted automatically through a secure session cookie. Your team never has to do anything.
  2. Outside the app (APIs, webhooks, integrations, shared links) — if Media Privacy is enabled, URLs carry a signed access token that expires after your configured duration. Without a valid token, the request is rejected.
If Media Privacy is disabled, media URLs are served without any authentication.

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Enabling Media Privacy

  • Go to Settings → Config and scroll to the Media Privacy setting.
  • Turn on the Media Privacy toggle.
  • Once enabled, all media links sent via API responses, webhooks, and integrations include an expiring access token.
With Media Privacy enabled, choose how long external media links stay valid under Link Expiry:
  • Options range from 10 minutes to 7 days (default: 24 hours).
  • The expiry applies to links delivered via APIs, webhooks, integrations, and the copy-link option in chats.
  • After a link expires, fetch a fresh one with the Migrate Media URL API or by re-fetching the message.

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What Changes for APIs, Webhooks & Integrations

  • API responses and webhook payloads now return api.periskope.app/app/media/... URLs instead of storage.googleapis.com URLs.
  • Integrations (HubSpot, Zoho, Freshdesk, Google Sheets, Zapier, and others) receive the same new URLs automatically — no reconfiguration needed.
  • If Media Privacy is enabled, download media within your configured expiry window instead of storing links long-term. Store the message ID and generate a fresh link when needed.

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Migrating Old Media URLs

If you have stored old storage.googleapis.com URLs in your systems, convert them to the new format using the Media APIs: Both endpoints also refresh expired Periskope media links with a new access token.
Direct Google Cloud Storage URLs are deprecated and will stop working in a future phase of the rollout. Migrate any stored URLs to the new format now to avoid broken links.

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FAQs

No. The app handles authentication automatically for your team, and Media Privacy stays off unless you enable it.
No. This only affects media links served by Periskope (app, APIs, webhooks, integrations). Media delivery on WhatsApp itself is unchanged.