U.S. House Imposes Ban on WhatsApp for Government Devices
(MENAFN) The US House of Representatives has officially prohibited the use of Meta’s WhatsApp on all government-issued devices, following a memo circulated to House staff on Monday, as reported by various media outlets.
According to the memo from the chief administrative officer, "(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 memo further advises staff to switch to alternative messaging platforms such as Amazon’s Wickr, Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime, Microsoft Teams, and Signal for communication purposes.
Responding to the decision, a Meta spokesperson expressed strong disagreement, stating the company disagreed with the move "in the strongest possible terms" and emphasized that WhatsApp "provided a higher level of security than the other approved apps on the House memo."
Earlier this year in January, WhatsApp disclosed that an Israeli spyware firm, Paragon Solutions, had targeted numerous users, including journalists and activists.
This ban follows a precedent set in 2022 when the House prohibited the use of the TikTok messaging platform among its staff due to similar security concerns.
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