WhatsApp is prohibited from using devices of personnel working in the House of Representatives

In order to guarantee security in the House of Representatives, its staff was prohibited from using the WhatsApp messaging application on all their devices.

Through a statement, Catherine Szpindor, administrative director of the House of Representatives, indicated that the Office of Cybersecurity defined WhatsApp as a “high risk to users due to the lack of transparency in how it protects people's data, the absence of encryption of stored data, and the potential security risks involved in its use.”

Under this approach, House staff cannot download or keep the WhatsApp application on any device while they remain on the premises.

This restriction applies to mobile phones and desktop computers, since access to the popular messenger will no longer be allowed through any web browser.

“Protecting the People's House is our top priority, and we are always monitoring and analyzing potential cybersecurity risks that could jeopardize the data of members and House staff.

“We periodically review the list of applications authorized by the House and will modify it as we deem appropriate,” the letter adds.

Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Meta, the technology company that owns WhatsApp, posted a message on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, in which he states that the security protocols in the applications they offer are highly reliable.

WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted by default, which means that only the recipients, and not even WhatsApp, can see them. This level of security is higher than that of most of the applications on the list of approved applications that do not offer this protection, he said.

Since last year, the FBI has warned about the risk of using some applications, especially those of Chinese origin, since, although it may not seem like it, they are used to extract personal information for purposes that are still unclear. However, in cases like TikTok, the American population has ignored it by continuing to access its services, considering it absurd that personalized data can be extracted from them while they watch or post recreational videos.

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