When we started designing HipChat, we wanted to strike a balance between how much power the team admin has and the people on their teams. The service has been live for a while now and we’ve gotten some great feedback on how teams use HipChat. Based on that feedback, we’re going to be tweak a few things that will allow more teams to enjoy it.

• What’s changing?
  We’ll be allowing team admins (usually the first person to sign up from your team) to join, delete, and view history for private rooms. Previously, only the room’s creator and the people invited by the creator had access to these rooms. Admins will also be able to choose whether or not non-admin users will be able to create private rooms. Admins will not have access to view chat history from one-on-one conversations.

• When?
  This change will take effect in 5 days (on Monday, February 22, 2010).

• What do I need to do?
  You only need to take action if you want to prevent your team admin from seeing the private room(s) you have created and their chat history. You can delete the room which will also delete the chat history. The admin will never know the room existed. If you don’t delete the room, your team admin will be able to see the room, the people in it, and the chat history.

• Why is this happening?
  Many users have requested increased admin control so they may better manage their team’s activity. Some companies also need access to all chat history for legal purposes.

We apologize for changing this functionality but we feel that it will allow more teams to enjoy HipChat. If you have any feedback or questions please contact us.