US House bans WhatsApp on staff devices over security concerns

The U.S. House of Representatives has banned the installation and use of WhatsApp on government-issued devices belonging to congressional staff, citing concerns over how the app encrypts and secures data.

The ban covers mobile phones, laptops, desktop computers, and any web browsers used on those devices.

Congressional staff are still free to use WhatsApp on their personal devices, which existing policies dictate are not allowed in sensitive areas such as classified briefings or secure facilities.

The U.S. House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, responsible for creating laws, approving budgets, and representing the American public through 435 elected representatives.

Axios first reported on the news of the ban after it got access to a leaked internal email the House’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) sent to congressional staff, where WhatsApp is essentially classified as a “high-risk” communication platform.

The U.S. government has not issued an official statement, but CAO Catherine Szpindor later confirmed the initial reporting via a statement to The Verge.

“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,” Szpindor told The Verge.

The CAO told the media outlet that their top priority is protecting the U.S. House and its data, and they regularly review and update the list of approved apps based on cybersecurity risks.

This is part of a broader push by the House to restrict potentially risky technology platforms and applications, including ByteDance apps like TikTok and AI tools like ChatGPT, which is only allowed in a special version.

The CAO listed Microsoft Teams, Wickr, Signal, iMessage, and FaceTime as acceptable substitutes for WhatsApp, recommending that staff pick one of these instead.

In response to our request for a comment on this development, a WhatsApp spokesperson sent us the below statement.

“We disagree with the House Chief Administrative Officer’s characterization in the strongest possible terms,” WhatsApp told BleepingComputer.

“We know members and their staff regularly use WhatsApp, and we look forward to ensuring members of the House can join their Senate counterparts 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.”

WhatsApp recently announced the introduction of ads and promoted content in the Updates tab, raising concerns about data privacy, as the platform will now use location, language, and interaction behavior to serve users with targeted ads.