US congressional staffers have reportedly been told that they’re no longer allowed to use WhatsApp on government devices. The House of Representatives’ chief administrative officer (CAO) is said to have informed workers on Monday that the app — including the mobile, desktop and web-based versions — is not permitted on House-managed devices.
“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 CAO wrote in an email, according to Axios. Microsoft Teams, Wickr, Signal (despite how easy it might be to accidentally invite a reporter to a sensitive group chat), iMessage and FaceTime were reportedly cited as acceptable alternatives, and the CAO reminded workers to be vigilant regarding potential phishing scams.
“We disagree with the House Chief Administrative Officer’s characterization in the strongest possible terms,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone wrote on X. “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. 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.”
The step follows limitations on congressional staffers’ use of other apps (including generative AI ones) that the CAO has deemed to be risky. Those include ChatGPT, TikTok, DeepSeek (which some states and federal departments have also banned from government devices) and Microsoft Copilot.