US House Prohibits WhatsApp Use on Official Devices

The U.S. House of Representatives has banned the use of WhatsApp on government devices due to security concerns. This decision, first reported by Axios, was made by the House's top administrator, who cited issues with the app's data protection transparency, lack of encryption for stored data, and potential security vulnerabilities. Consequently, House staff are prohibited from installing WhatsApp on government-issued phones, computers, and web browsers.

WhatsApp, owned by Meta, disputes these concerns, emphasizing its use of end-to-end encryption and claiming it is more secure than many apps approved by the administrator. Meta's spokesperson, Andy Stone, expressed disagreement with the House's assessment, noting that WhatsApp is frequently used by House members and staff, and advocating for its official use similar to the Senate.

The administrator recommended alternatives such as Microsoft Teams, Amazon's Wickr, Signal, and Apple's iMessage and FaceTime. This ban follows previous restrictions on apps like TikTok, OpenAI ChatGPT, and DeepSeek. Recently, WhatsApp announced plans to introduce ads for revenue generation, assuring that user privacy would remain intact.

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