Staff and aides to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser are using the message service WhatsApp to communicate, a practice that’s becoming more common among public officials across the country. But it’s also raising concerns among open-government advocates over public business being conducted on a private app — and largely beyond the reach of laws requiring that documents and records be preserved and made available to the public and press upon request.
The exact scope of WhatsApp use among the mayor’s staff remains unclear. But one person with direct knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified said it is “commonplace” for communication between managers and employees, both individually and in groups. Much of that communication happens during the day and touches on official government business and functions.
“We communicate using a variety of methods to accomplish our work in an expeditious manner,” said Bowser’s office in an emailed statement.
WhatsApp — which is owned by Facebook — is a new class of app-based messaging services that allow users to send text messages, place audio and video calls over the internet and share documents. Similar services include different degrees of encryption and anonymity, with some — like Signal, Confide and Telegram — destroying messages after a specific amount of time.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Martin Meissner over at WAMU