Senate approves encrypted app Signal for staff use

The Senate Sergeant at Arms has approved the encrypted messaging app Signal for lawmakers and staff.

The move was first noticed by the tech publication ZDNet in a letter from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) thanking Sergeant at Arms Frank Larkin for the decision.

In a letter last week, the senator thanked Larkin for improving the security of Senate websites and also praised him for “the recent announcement by your office that the end-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal is approved for Senate staff use.”

{mosads}ZDNet reported Tuesday that the approval for Signal took effect in March but appears to have flown under the public radar.

Recently, employees at the Environmental Protection Agency and White House both came under fire for either using Signal or the competing app Confide. Both of those agencies fall under different, stricter records laws than Congress.