Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp messaging service has been banned from all United States House of Representatives devices. This directive was conveyed in a memo sent to all House staff on Monday.
The notice stated that the “Office of Cybersecurity has deemed WhatsApp a high risk to users due to the lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption, and potential security risks involved with its use.”
The memo, issued by the chief administrative officer, recommended the use of alternative messaging applications, including Microsoft Corp’s Teams platform, Amazon.com’s Wickr, Signal, and Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime.
Meta expressed strong disagreement with this move. A company spokesperson stated that the platform provides a higher level of security compared to the other approved applications.
In January, a WhatsApp official had previously revealed that the Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions had targeted numerous users of its service, including journalists and members of civil society.
The House has a precedent for banning apps from staff devices; for instance, the short video app TikTok was prohibited in 2022 due to security concerns.
