Messaging app WhatsApp has been banned on congressional staffers’ government devices, the U.S. House’s chief administrative officer (CAO) confirmed Monday.
“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,” said Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindo in a statement shared with The Hill.
“We routinely review the list of House-authorized apps and will amend the list as deemed appropriate,” she added.
Staffers were notified Monday via email, Axios first reported.
According to the email obtained by Axios, the CAO told staffers the Officer of Cybersecurity determined WhatsApp is a “high-risk to users due to lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption and potential security risks involved with its use.”
Staffers are not permitted to download or keep the WhatsApp app on any House device, including phones and deskptops, and cannot access it through web browsers, the email stated.
WhatsApp is owned by Meta, which also owns popular social media platforms Facebook and Instagram.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said the company disagrees with the CAO’s characterization “in the strongest possible terms.”
“We know members and their staffs regularly use WhatsApp and we look forward to ensuring members of the House can join their Senate counterparts in doing so officially,” Stone said in a post on X.
“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,” he added.
It comes months after the CAO warned offices against using Chinese AI platform DeepSeek shortly after it took the internet by storm and roiled the confidence of American investors.
A bipartisan group of senators later introduced legislation to ban the startup’s products from government devices and networks.
Â
