27-03-2025
What is Signal and why are politicians using it?
DENVER (KDVR) — Fallout over use of the Trump Administration's use of the signal app to detail attack plans continued Wednesday.
Two Colorado congressional members have joined a group of lawmakers calling for the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to step down from his post. National officials aren't the only ones who have found themselves in hot water using the app for planning.
'Reckless', 'total incompetence': Colorado legislators react to Signal chat of war plans
From the Denver Mayor's Office to the state capitol, Signal is a popular way to communicate among people working in politics. This isn't the first time people have gotten in trouble using it.
Signal is an app that has been around for a little over 10 years. It uses encryption text and video messaging so that only people who send and receive messages can view the data being sent.
'It has a focus on privacy and security and basically everything that you send in Signal is encrypted between you and the person you are sending it to, meaning that a third party- even the owners of the app or the providers of the application can't read your messages,' said Nathan Evans, faculty director of Cybersecurity at the University of Denver.
Attorney and President of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition Steven Zansberg was shocked to learn that administration officials shared attack plans with a journalist over the app but it was not his first time seeing lawmakers get in trouble using it.
Back in 2023, Zansberg represented two freshman state representatives as they sued House leadership, saying in-part that member's use of Signal to discuss votes before they happened violated the state's Open Meetings Law.
A settlement was reached and a consent decree that prohibited state lawmakers from having their messages auto-delete in the app was established but its no longer in effect.
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'The General Assembly exempted itself from the Open Meetings Law. And specifically allowed for serial meetings and all kinds of meetings in violation of the open meeting law as to any other state public body,' Zansberg said. 'The General Assembly is no longer under that consent decree and is no longer required to disable automatic deletion through Signal and it's my understanding that they are using signal in our statehouse as they were prior to that action being filed.'
Now, the Denver Mayor's Office could also be in some trouble after using the app to discuss the city's immigration outlook. They told FOX31 in a statement:
'Staff occasionally use Signal as an easy alternative to regular text messaging. Local government has a responsibility to communicate effectively and be aware of everything going on in the city on a daily basis. In a large organization where individuals use different operating systems (iPhone, Android) and receive hundreds of texts and emails a day, Signal allows people to efficiently receive real time updates and share information. It is not used to make policy decisions or issue directives that impact city business. Just like any other text messages or emails, the communications are subject to CORA.'
Jordan Fuja, Press Secretary for Mayor Mike Johnston
The Mayor's Office insists its use of the app does not violate any of the city's retention policies or the Colorado Open Record Act. Zansberg said that may not be the case.
'The Mayor's Office was already on notice that there might be legal claims filed against the city. They had received notification from Stephen Miller's legal firm about that. They had a duty under their own records law and under the Law of Exploitation of Evidence as its called to maintain all records that were pertinent to that litigation. So, the intentional destruction of records whether it's by shredding or automatic deletion in. the face if a known litigation threat is a violation of the law,' said Zansberg.
With the spotlight on public officials having delicate conversations on the app, is it still safe to use for people in the political arena? Evans believes Signal is the most secure option among the app's other competitors.
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'Signal is an open-source program which means that you can actually look at the source code that runs on your device so you can tell whether it's actually secure or not. There have been some issues with WhatsApp in particular with their privacy policies,' Evans said. 'I think it's generally well regarded that Signal is secure. That doesn't mean people should be using it if it's against the policy of their department or organization, right? Especially with local, state, national governments. You really should be using the tools that you are allowed to use for that purpose.'
On Capitol Hill, Congresswoman Diana DeGette and Congressman Jason Crow both said the Defense Secretary should have known better than to use the app for those details.
'Common sense and years of practice should say: If you are talking about confidential U.S., secured information, it should be done in a secured location: what we call a SCIF. Not on Signal or any other app,' Congresswoman Diana DeGette told Nexstar Capitol Bureau reporters. 'It is a location that is impenetrable by foreign adversaries trying to get the information. We have SCIFs here in Congress. When we are discussing sensitive issues, we leave our cellphones outside the room, they lock them up, we go in, we have the conversation nd then we don't disclose them to anybody.'
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