Image source: istock.com/Rogerpilkington
The Scottish Government is to stop the use of mobile messaging apps, including WhatsApp, on official devices following the publication of an externally led review.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said that access to these apps on corporate devices will be removed from government devices in spring of next year.
Guidance will be updated and staff and ministers will receive training in advance of the policy being implemented.
The review, led by former Channel Islands data protection commissioner Emma Martins, was commissioned in January this year.
It found that during the Covid-19 pandemic WhatsApp had been the communication platform of choice in the Scottish Government. As in the rest of the UK, this was followed by concerns about the ways the apps were used and the nature of some messages exchanged.
Recommendations
This has prompted a number of recommendations, including the implementation of a new policy for mobile messaging and an updated business continuity plan to include reference to and rules around their use.
Others cover areas of corporate governance including the values of the Scottish Government, learning and development process, recruitment procedures and records management.
Forbes said: “We have carefully considered the recommendations and we will end the use of mobile messaging applications to conduct government business by spring 2025. At that point, mobile messaging apps will be removed from corporate devices.
“The use of mobile messaging apps increased during the pandemic as staff worked remotely in unprecedented and difficult circumstances. Having reflected on our working practices, we are now implementing changes to the use of mobile messaging apps.
“Ms Martins’ timely review sets out some of the most challenging issues facing all governments. Work has already started to implement recommendations, and we will build on that work to ensure that data management, especially in relation to new technologies, is as robust as possible in order to continue to deliver efficient and effective public services.”
Need for clear values
Martins commented: “Technologies are changing our lives at home and in the workplace. No organisation can afford to sit back and hope that navigating those changes will come without effort. Values need to be clear, individuals need to engage, and governance needs to be effective.”
Last year the UK Government produced guidance for departments on the need to reduce the use of non-corporate communications channels, emphasising that they should not be used for sharing any information marked ‘secret’ or ‘top secret’.
But in May of this year Parliament’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee called for more transparency and the possible blocking of the use of the platforms in how government ministers and officials communicate with third parties.
