Is it illegal to open a chat record?

Legal analysis: not necessarily. It depends on what is included in the public content. It is not illegal to disclose social software chat records without others' permission, but if the personal information of the parties, including user name, avatar, picture, name, etc., is disclosed, it violates the law (privacy right) and is applicable to civil litigation. It is illegal for the chat record to be made public by the other party, which needs to be verified and determined according to the actual situation. If the disclosure of chat records damages the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, the parties may require the relevant personnel to bear corresponding legal responsibilities.

Legal basis: Article 133 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, unless otherwise stipulated by law or expressly agreed by the obligee, no organization or individual may commit the following acts: (1) Disturb the private life of others by means of telephone, short message, instant messaging tools, e-mail, leaflets, etc.; (2) Entering, photographing and peeping into other people's private spaces such as houses and hotel rooms; (3) Shooting, peeping, eavesdropping and disclosing other people's private activities; (4) Shooting and peeking at private parts of other people's bodies; (5) Handling other people's private information; (6) Infringe upon the privacy rights of others in other ways.