The U.S. Home of Representatives has formally banned using WhatsApp, the messaging platform owned by Meta Platforms, on all Home-issued units. In response to a memo circulated on Monday by the Chief Administrative Officer’s Workplace of Cybersecurity, WhatsApp has been categorized as a “excessive danger” utility on account of vital issues over knowledge safety and transparency.
The memo outlines three principal causes for the ban: inadequate transparency concerning WhatsApp’s knowledge safety insurance policies, the dearth of encryption for saved knowledge, and broader safety vulnerabilities related to the platform’s use. These components led the cybersecurity workplace to conclude that WhatsApp poses an unacceptable danger to authorities customers.
Rather than WhatsApp, the memo advises Home employees to make use of different messaging companies which are deemed safer. Beneficial platforms embody Microsoft Groups, Amazon’s Wickr, Sign, Apple’s iMessage, and FaceTime. These companies are considered as providing stronger protections and higher compliance with authorities cybersecurity requirements.
Meta responded strongly to the ban, disputing the characterization of WhatsApp as the next danger than the permitted alternate options. A spokesperson for the corporate acknowledged that WhatsApp gives stronger safety features than a number of the different really useful functions and rejected the choice “within the strongest doable phrases.”
This transfer follows prior security-driven app bans throughout the U.S. legislative physique. For instance, in 2022, the Home banned TikTok from official units, citing nationwide safety issues associated to knowledge assortment and international affect.
The choice additionally comes within the wake of heightened issues about surveillance and adware. In January, a WhatsApp govt revealed that Israeli adware agency Paragon Options had focused a number of customers on the platform, together with journalists and civil society figures. This incident additional elevated issues over the app’s vulnerability to stylish cyberattacks.
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