The United States House of Representatives issued a memorandum on Monday (June 23) prohibiting all staff from using Meta’s communication application WhatsApp on official devices due to privacy and security concerns.
Chief Administrative Officer of the House Catherine Szpindor stated in the memorandum that the Office of Cybersecurity has classified WhatsApp as a high-risk application due to reasons such as lack of transparency in protecting user data, absence of data encryption, and potential security risks during usage.
The memorandum instructs staff to uninstall or remove WhatsApp from any House laptops or mobile devices starting from June 30, and recommends using other approved communication apps such as Microsoft Teams, Amazon’s Wickr, Signal, Apple’s iMessage, and FaceTime.
“Safeguarding the people’s House is our top priority, and we will continue to monitor and analyze cybersecurity risks that may harm House members and staff data,” Szpindor stated in the release. “We will regularly review the list of approved apps in the House and make adjustments as necessary.”
In the past, the House has banned the use of specific applications on official devices due to cybersecurity concerns, such as the blanket ban on the short video platform TikTok in 2022 citing security reasons.
Meta strongly opposed the House’s decision to ban the use of WhatsApp, stating that WhatsApp has been approved by the Senate as an official communication platform.
A spokesperson for Meta mentioned that WhatsApp messages are encrypted end-to-end by default, making it impossible for both the company and third parties to read the content of messages. They also claimed that the security of the WhatsApp platform is “higher than most applications on the Chief Administrative Officer’s approved list.”
This warning comes as a significant blow to WhatsApp. In recent years, Meta has faced scrutiny and criticism for its failure to adequately protect user data.
Meta acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion. However, WhatsApp’s co-founder Brian Acton left the company in 2017 due to dissatisfaction with Meta’s handling of user privacy post-acquisition, diminishing decision-making authority for WhatsApp, and lack of independence.