WhatsApp has banned all US House of Representatives devices, which causes concerns to how the app handles user data. According to Equis, the House staff received an email from the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) on Monday, saying that the messaging app is no longer allowed on any government -administered phones, computers or browsers.
The CyberSicoreti office said that WhatsApp is considered a high -risk platform because “it lacks transparency how it protects the user’s data, the absence of stored data, and the potential security risks involved in its use.” The staff has been told that if it has already been installed, and refrain from downloading it in the future.
This is not the first time the house has limited access to famous digital tools. In the past few years, it has banned or partial restrictions on apps from Betnsins, AII tools such as depressic, and even Microsoft’s co -coaste. For Chat GPT, only paid version – Chat GPT Plus – is currently approved for use.
The WhatsApp decides to stop the app immediately of the app company. Later, it has confirmed plans to start advertising tests as WhatsApp. Although the ban is formally focused on data security, speculations arose due to the fact that the recent move towards the monetization has raised additional concerns.
WhatsApp announced that it would begin to keep ads in the user’s status messages. | Image Credit – WhatsApp
In response, Meta’s spokesman Andy Stone did not agree with the decision and pointed out that WhatsApp messages were default, which means that only those involved in the conversation can read the content.
We do not agree with the strongest possible terms with the features of the House’s Chief Administrative Officer. This is a higher level of security than most apps in the CAO’s approved list, which does not offer this protection.
– Andy Stone, Meta spokesperson
Despite the defense of the meta, the CAO filed numerous approved messaging alternatives for home use. These include Microsoft teams, signals, wickers, ice and fee time. The email also warned the staff to look at the phishing efforts and the unknown text, and urge them to be vigilant.
Although the WhatsApp encryption is one of its main features, the House’s decision highlights the growing debate on how safe messaging apps are really – especially when more platforms begin to introduce advertising and other changes that affect user privacy. Personally, it’s surprising to see the signal in the list of approved apps – it’s not that the apps have nothing to do with, but just after the previous political scandal that added the same app in the past few months due to optics.
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