Senate Staffers Receive Approval to Use Signal Encryption App

The encrypted chat app Signal has been a popular choice with Federal and White House employees that work with sensitive data — and they now have official sign-off to use the app.

Although Senate staffers began using Signal for official business in March, Senate Sergeant at Arms Frank J. Larkin just officially approved the use of Signal by Senate staff members. He also recently approved the decision to move all Senate websites to HTTPS.

“I am happy to see that you too recognize the important defensive cybersecurity role that encryption can play,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a letter thanking Larkin for his decision.

In the past there have been concerns that use of such apps by official employees may violate record-keeping laws. However, a spokesperson for the National Archives and Records Administration, told ZDNet that members of Congress are mostly exempt from those rules.

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