Messaging app WhatsApp has been banned on congressional staffers’ authorities gadgets, the U.S. Home’s chief administrative officer (CAO) confirmed Monday.
“Protecting the People’s House is our topmost priority, and we are always monitoring and analyzing for potential cybersecurity risks that could endanger the data of House Members and staff,” mentioned Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindo in an announcement shared with The Hill.
“We routinely review the list of House-authorized apps and will amend the list as deemed appropriate,” she added.
Staffers have been notified Monday through e-mail, Axios first reported.
In keeping with the e-mail obtained by Axios, the CAO informed staffers the Officer of Cybersecurity decided WhatsApp is a “high-risk to users due to lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption and potential security risks involved with its use.”
Staffers are usually not permitted to obtain or hold the WhatsApp app on any Home system, together with telephones and deskptops, and can’t entry it via internet browsers, the e-mail acknowledged.
WhatsApp is owned by Meta, which additionally owns common social media platforms Fb and Instagram.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone mentioned the corporate disagrees with the CAO’s characterization “in the strongest possible terms.”
“We know members and their staffs regularly use WhatsApp and we look forward to ensuring members of the House can join their Senate counterparts in doing so officially,” Stone mentioned in a publish on X.
“Messages on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted by default, meaning only the recipients and not even WhatsApp can see them. This is a higher level of security than most of the apps on the CAO’s approved list that do not offer that protection,” he added.
It comes months after the CAO warned workplaces in opposition to utilizing Chinese language AI platform DeepSeek shortly after it took the web by storm and roiled the arrogance of American traders.
A bipartisan group of senators later launched laws to ban the startup’s merchandise from authorities gadgets and networks.
