New Delhi6 hours ago
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Whitehouse has banned all three versions of WhatsApp- mobile, desktop and web.
Government devices in the US have been banned for using WhatsApp. The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the American House of Representatives (Lok Sabha in India) issued an order, which said ‘WhatsApp can no longer be used on any government device. This includes all three versions of the app- mobile, desktop and web.
The notification was told that if a staff phone has a WhatsApp installed, it should be deleted immediately. Not only this, the order also warned to be careful with messages or fishing scam coming from unknown numbers. In the order, the staff advises to use other messaging apps instead of WhatsApp.
3 reasons to consider WhatsApp to be high-risk
- Lack of transparency in data protection: WhatsApp does not clear how the user’s data is protected. That is, what happens to the messages you send, it is not completely clear.
- Lack of Stord data encryption: The message of WhatsApp may be end-to-end encrypted, but the data stores stated to the lack of encryption. This may cause data leaks at risk.
- Security Risk: WhatsApp user data handling methods have some shortcomings, causing fear of cyber attack.
In January this year, there were questions on security
Earlier in January this year, WhatsApp himself confessed that Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions targeted many of its users, especially journalists and civil society members. The incident questioned the security of WhatsApp.
Meta claim- Our data security system better
Meta has protested on this ban. The company’s spokesperson Andy Stone told Reuters, ‘We do not agree with this decision at all. WhatsApp has a default and-to-end encryption, which makes it more secure than other messaging apps.
Meta claims that WhatsApp’s security level is better than apps that the house has suggested as an alternative. Stone also said that many members of the house and Senate use WhatsApp, and they want the members of the house to also use it officially.
These apps are also banned in America Parliament
- In 2022, the ticket was also removed from staff devices, as it had a connection with Chinese parent company bytedens and was concerned about data security.
- The House has also imposed some restrictions on AI programs and Microsoft Copylots like Deepcia.
- The free version of the chatGPT has also been banned and is allowed to use only paid versions (chat GPT Plus).
Meta and US government
The ban of WhatsApp is not limited to security issue just. There is already tension between the meta and the US government. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is prone to a case against Mata, alleging monopoly (a Chhatra Raj). The decision of this case is yet to come.
In addition, the Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent President Donald Trump and his colleagues are growing close. Some Meta employees are angry with this. According to a Financial Times report, more than 40 meta employees have questioned this ‘political shift’ of Zuckerberg. Some are tightening them as ‘Mega Mark’ (Make America Great Again). Meta has also given a donation of $ 1 million (₹ 8.61 crore) in Trump’s opening fund.
More than 48 crore WhatsApp users worldwide
It has more than 2 billion users worldwide. At the same time, there are about 48.9 million users of WhatsApp in India. WhatsApp was launched in 2009. In 2014, Facebook bought WhatsApp for $ 19 billion.
