Nearly a week after WhatsApp introduced advertisements on its platform for the first time, it has been announced that the US House has imposed a ban on WhatsApp across all government devices. This decision stems from escalating concerns over WhatsApp’s privacy and data security.
This information comes from Axios, which reported that the U.S. House’s Chief Administrative Officer has notified congressional staffers about the prohibition of WhatsApp. Consequently, House staffers are prohibited from installing or retaining the messaging app on any House-issued devices, including phones, desktops, or web browsers.
Also Read: iMessage Could Soon Borrow a Feature or Two from WhatsApp
The rationale behind the ban was detailed in an email from the Chief Administrative Officer obtained by Axios. The email states, “The Office of Cybersecurity has deemed WhatsApp a high-risk to users due to the lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption, and potential security risks involved with its use.”
In response, Meta’s spokesperson, Andy Stone, expressed strong disagreement with the House Chief Administrative Officer’s assessment. He emphasized that WhatsApp utilizes end-to-end encryption, which ensures that only the message recipient can access the content—not even WhatsApp itself. Stone also noted that WhatsApp’s security measures are superior to those of several other apps approved by the CAO.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House CAO has approved Microsoft Teams, Wickr, Signal, iMessage, and FaceTime as acceptable alternatives to WhatsApp. The US House has previously banned other AI-driven applications such as DeepSeek and Microsoft’s Copilot.
The abrupt ban on WhatsApp may come as a surprise to many, but the app’s recent incorporation of AI features raises important privacy concerns. The launch of advertisements combined with initiatives like using Meta AI to summarize messages has brought WhatsApp’s security into question.
