WhatsApp banned from government devices after House of Representatives Chief Executive deems it 'high risk'
The US House of Representatives' chief administrative officer has informed members of Congress and their staff that he will ban them from using the messaging app WhatsApp, citing a lack of transparency about how it protects user data.
Scoop: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices
House bans WhatsApp on government devices for security concerns
According to foreign media Axios, the encrypted messaging app 'WhatsApp' provided by Meta has been banned from use on official devices in Congress. This means that installation of WhatsApp on official devices is prohibited, and those who have already installed it are required to uninstall it.
'The lack of transparency about how it protects user data, the issues with how it encrypts data at rest, and the potential security risks associated with its use all pose a high risk to users,' House of Commons Chief Executive Catherine Spindler said.
Spindle has imposed partial bans on Chinese AI DeepSeek, apps from Chinese company ByteDance (such as TikTok), Microsoft Copilot, and others. He also severely restricted staff use of ChatGPT, instructing them to use only the paid version of ChatGPT Plus. Apps that staff can use are on an 'approved list,' and messaging apps approved include Microsoft Teams, iMessage, and FaceTime.
WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted, meaning that even Meta, not even a malicious third party, can read the contents of your communications. It's unclear what prompted Spindler to determine that encryption was a problem.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone responded to this, saying, 'WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted by default, meaning only the recipient can see them - not even WhatsApp. This is a higher level of security than most of the apps on Spindle's approved list, which don't offer end-to-end encryption. We disagree with Spindle's comments in the strongest terms.'
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.
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) June 23, 2025
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