The department of home affairs secretary, Stephanie Foster, has admitted to using disappearing messages on Signal, but says she complies with record-keeping obligations, as officials face scrutiny of their use of encrypted messaging apps in the wake of the Trump administration group chat scandal.
The editor of the Atlantic, Jeff Goldberg, published a story this week saying he was accidentally added to a Signal group chat of top US officials discussing operational details on a plan to strike Yemen.
Signal is known for its privacy and disappearing-message features. A US government watchdog group is suing US officials, arguing that using an app with disappearing messages could put it in breach of legal obligations around record retention.
In the wake of global fallout from the scandal, officials in Australia have been asked to disclose their own use of the end-to-end encrypted app and what security precautions are in place.
Foster, the secretary of the department responsible for cybersecurity and immigration, confirmed in Senate estimates on Thursday that she used Signal and “in some cases” turned disappearing messages on.
“I use messaging apps – Signal included – for purposes that one might typically use a phone call for,” she said. “So, to set up a meeting, or to ask if someone’s free.”
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The home affairs department chief operating officer, Charlotte Tressler, told Senate estimates there was a general record-keeping policy for the department, as well as a specific guidance on use of Signal, but there was no ban on staff having disappearing messages turned on.
Tressler said staff are told that they must be “conscious of your record keeping obligations, your FoI obligations, all of those things that are associated”.
The Greens senator David Shoebridge asked Foster if those messages should be retained for archive purposes and for making available for freedom of information requests. Foster said: “I absolutely know what my obligations are and I know how to retain that.”
Foster said she would need to check if she had disappearing messages on in her interactions with ministers. The secretary also said she uses WhatsApp but could not say if those messages were set to disappearing.
Shoebridge pointed out the department “doesn’t do war plans on Yemen” but asked if any critical national security information was being shared on Signal.
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Tim Neal, the assistant secretary for government cyber and protective security, said rules around what information can be shared on what application are set out in the security policy framework.
Last week, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the National Archives released an investigation into how agencies were using encrypted apps and what security and record rules were in place for work-related conversations occurring on them.
The report found that, of the 22 government agencies that responded to a survey on encrypted app use, 16 permitted its use by staff for work purposes. Of those, just eight had policies on the use of the apps, and five of those addressed security requirements for communicating on the apps.
The National Archives said on Wednesday that messaging apps “may present recordkeeping and risk management challenges” for agencies when authorised, and those agencies were required to meet their record-keeping obligations regardless of the tools used.
After Trump administration officials claimed there was no classified information shared on the Yemen group chat, the Atlantic published more information from the chat on Wednesday.
