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WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

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21–30 of 161 posts

Re: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

#21

Good. Another point to be made when my friends push me to install bloated spyware just to plan a pizza party. Use Signal.

[flagged]

He did say last year he was going to make this the most open and transparent administration in US history. What other administration would grant a hostile journalist an inside look at the planning and execution of an airstrike? Promises made, promises kept.

Re: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

#22
post #16
post #12

Government: Zuck put a backdoor in WhatsApp or we will put you in a blacksite UFC ring and beat you up. Also Government: WhatsApp has a backdoor. Don't use it.

>Government: Zuck put a backdoor in WhatsApp or we will put you in a blacksite UFC ring and beat you up. Source? >Also Government: WhatsApp has a backdoor. Don't use it. If "zuck" is really in the pocket of the US government, why should they worry about their own backdoors?

Once it's backdoored you don't know who's watching it.

It's the most hilarious thing about backdoors or collecting extensive covert intel on your own population, that any failure of opsec makes it much easier for all your adversaries to also spy on them in ways they would never otherwise be able to, then compromise them, and flip them.

Re: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That wasn't signal's fault. They accidentally invited a journalist to the chat.

I agree in principle but this was (probably) a result of somebody fat-fingering the wrong contact and I do think there's some culpability on either the app or the phone for making that possible to do by mistake. Touch screens are an inherently clumsy interface, and Android in general has a lot of problems with UI elements suddenly moving around without warning as you're clicking on things. And then there's auto corre…

I thought the latest on this was that the journalist's number was in an internal email from spokesman Brian Hughes, and software or human error led to his phone number being associated with Hughes in Waltz's phone contact

Re: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That wasn't signal's fault. They accidentally invited a journalist to the chat.

I agree in principle but this was (probably) a result of somebody fat-fingering the wrong contact and I do think there's some culpability on either the app or the phone for making that possible to do by mistake. Touch screens are an inherently clumsy interface, and Android in general has a lot of problems with UI elements suddenly moving around without warning as you're clicking on things. And then there's auto corre…

>but this was (probably) a result of somebody fat-fingering the wrong contact...

Supposedly, it was the result of a helpful Apple feature getting the wrong phone number for one of the intended group participants. Then Signal cheerfully used that wrong phone number to add the reporter to the group.

* https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/06/signal-group...

Re: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

#25
When I was at unnamed major financial institution, we were ordered to stop using WhatsApp, but it had nothing to do with security and everything to do with avoiding even the possibility of the appearance of backroom dealing or production avoidance in the event of subpoena. Maybe the truth has more to do with that, or maybe not, what do I know, who are all you people anyway, and why am I posting here?

Re: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

#26

This is due to the addition of Meta AI in WhatsApp [0]. Unsurprisingly, data egress to third parties is a major security vector - especially for mission critical jobs like working in the House. MS apps incorporating Copilot have faced similar blocks as well. This requirement for data stewardship is called out in HITPOL8 as well [1][2] (the AI tool standards set by the House CAO). [0] - https://faq.whatsapp.com/203220…

Source for reason?

Re: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

#28
post #15
post #12

Government: Zuck put a backdoor in WhatsApp or we will put you in a blacksite UFC ring and beat you up. Also Government: WhatsApp has a backdoor. Don't use it.

WhatsApp on TV: “Trust us! It’s encrypted :) :) :)”

And on social media. Maybe I'm being too literal and pedantic, but it bugs me that they say "nobody" can read your messages. What's the point of using it if even the recipient can't read them (or the sender for that matter!).

Re: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

#29
post #16
post #12

Government: Zuck put a backdoor in WhatsApp or we will put you in a blacksite UFC ring and beat you up. Also Government: WhatsApp has a backdoor. Don't use it.

>Government: Zuck put a backdoor in WhatsApp or we will put you in a blacksite UFC ring and beat you up. Source? >Also Government: WhatsApp has a backdoor. Don't use it. If "zuck" is really in the pocket of the US government, why should they worry about their own backdoors?

Why would there be a source for a backdoor of a closed source application?

Re: WhatsApp banned on House staffers' devices

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

He did say last year he was going to make this the most open and transparent administration in US history. What other administration would grant a hostile journalist an inside look at the planning and execution of an airstrike? Promises made, promises kept.

"hostile"
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