European civil servants are being forced off WhatsApp – POLITICO

There is no suggestion that apps like Signal and WhatsApp, which use end-to-end encryption, the gold standard for messaging security, are more unsecure than their alternatives. Much of what’s driving the shift is a need for features like access controls, the ability to only allow chats between specific people, and control over metadata that show where and when calls and messages are made and sent.

Using consumer apps for big organizations is “really a risky move,” said Benjamin Schilz, the chief executive of Wire, a secure communications app used by the German government. They’re “just not built for that.”

Some of those features would have helped defend against a recent Russian spying campaign carried out via WhatsApp and Signal, said Belgium’s De Waele. “With us, because it’s a closed environment with only government employees, you can also avoid that,” he said. 

For transparency campaigners, the move to government-controlled apps is long overdue. Democracy groups have lamented how end-to-end encrypted communication and cybersecurity policies such as disappearing messages on consumer apps have pushed important decisions into the shadows.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last year faced a no-confidence vote (which was ultimately unsuccessful) in part over access to messages she exchanged with Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla before a multibillion-euro vaccine deal, and which she failed to disclose.

Trump boost

Those working with European governments on in-house solutions have noticed a clear shift since United States President Donald Trump reentered office at the start of last year.