Jun 24, 2025Ravie LakshmananData Safety / Cellular Safety
The U.S. Home of Representatives has formally banned congressional workers members from utilizing WhatsApp on government-issued gadgets, citing safety issues.
The event was first reported by Axios.
The choice, in accordance with the Home Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), was motivated by worries concerning the app’s safety.
“The Workplace of Cybersecurity has deemed WhatsApp a high-risk to customers because of the lack of transparency in the way it protects person knowledge, absence of saved knowledge encryption, and potential safety dangers concerned with its use,” the CAO stated in a memo, in accordance with Axios.
To that finish, Home workers are prohibited from downloading the app on any system issued by the federal government, together with its cellular, desktop, or internet browser variations.
WhatsApp has pushed again towards these issues, stating messages despatched on the platform are end-to-end encrypted by default, and that it presents a “larger degree” of safety than a lot of the apps on CAO’s accredited record.
“We disagree with the Home Chief Administrative Officer’s characterization within the strongest attainable phrases,” Meta’s Communication Director Andy Stone stated in a submit on social media website X.
“We all know members and their staffs often use WhatsApp and we sit up for making certain members of the Home can be part of their Senate counterparts in doing so formally.”
As “acceptable” alternate options, the CAO’s message has really useful that the workers use apps like Microsoft Groups, Amazon’s Wickr, Sign, and Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime. WhatsApp is the most recent app to be banned by the Home after TikTok, OpenAI ChatGPT, and DeepSeek.
Final week, the Meta-owned messaging app stated it is bringing advertisements in an effort to monetize the platform, however emphasised they’re performed in a way with out sacrificing person privateness.
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