FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: Government Employees Using Encrypted Messaging Apps On Work Phones, Potentially Violating Federal Law

FOIA News (2015-2023)Kevin SchmidtComment

Government Employees Using Encrypted Messaging Apps On Work Phones, Potentially Violating Federal Law

By Joe Simonson, Daily Caller, Jan 9. 2018

Over a dozen Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees have downloaded encrypted messaging applications on government-issued phones and are potentially violating federal law, according to documents obtained by the Cause of Action Institute and provided exclusively to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

This demonstrates a culture of secrecy within some segments of the agency’s staff under President Donald Trump.

The Cause of Action Institute (CoA), a nonprofit dedicated to government transparency, received the documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request following a December New York Times article describing a cohort of agency employees who are conspiring to undermine acting director and Trump appointee Mick Mulvaney’s agenda. The individuals call themselves “Dumbledore’s Army,” named after a group of fictional wizards in the children’s series “Harry Potter.”

Read more here.