Canadian officials are being criticized for using disappearing message functions on apps like Signal, which experts want to see banned in Ottawa. A freedom of information request shows such officials include Canada’s chief information officer, who is responsible for creating government rules about apps and retaining digital records.
“The normalization of the use of disappearing message functions on these apps evades transparency legislation,” government secrecy researcher Matt Malone told CTVNews.ca. “It erodes the purpose of the legislation.”
Malone, an assistant professor in the University of Ottawa’s law faculty, filed an access to information request for screengrabs of Signal, WhatsApp and iMessage settings on government devices used by the top two officials at the Office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada. Those screengrabs revealed both were using disappearing message functions, which automatically delete conversations after a set time that can range from just 30 seconds to minutes, hours, days or weeks.
But electronic records about government business need to be saved in accordance with Canada’s Access to Information Act, Malone says. That legislation was created on the principle that the public should be able to request government information, with only limited and specific exceptions like protecting personal privacy or national security.
“In my mind, it’s hard to say with a straight face that you are respecting transparency and accountability laws when you are destroying text messages,” Malone said. “The hypocrisy is next level.”
Top U.S. security officials recently came under fire for using Signal, a publicly available encrypted messaging app, to discuss sensitive military strikes in Yemen. Their use of Signal is now being investigated by the Pentagon’s inspector general.
According to Malone, there are more than 300,000 government-issued smartphones in circulation in Canada. His research suggests the use of third-party disappearing messaging apps could be pervasive in certain parts of government.
“They know exactly what they’re doing,” Malone, who is also the director of the University of Ottawa’s Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, said. “The government must act to ban these back channels so that we can secure the transparency and accountability Canadians deserve.”
‘It erodes public trust in government’
The Office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada is part of the powerful Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), an agency responsible for overseeing the finances and operations of the federal government – including Canada’s access to information system.
In the screengrabs Malone provided to CTVNews.ca, Chief Information Officer of Canada Dominic Rochon appears to have his Signal and WhatsApp messages set to disappear after a week, and his iMessage conversations set to disappear after 30 days. His second in command, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister Mike MacDonald, only used iMessage, which also appeared to be set to automatically delete after 30 days.
Rochon took on his current role in February 2024 and has a background in national security and cybersecurity, which included time with Communications Security Establishment Canada, the country’s electronic intelligence agency. In current and past positions, he has publicly advocated for improving government transparency and strengthening Canada’s access to information system. He even co-authored a 2021 article which stated that “a lack of transparency makes it difficult for Canadians to hold the government to account; it increases the risk of government abuse or corruption; and it erodes public trust in government.”
The TBS and Office of the Chief Information Officer declined to answer specific questions about Rochon and MacDonald’s use of disappearing message functions. A TBS spokesperson told CTVNews.ca that while “transitory records” may be disposed of, public servants “must retain all records of business value” – including electronic messages.
“All government records under the government’s control are subject to the Access to Information Act, including instant messages sent using third-party applications on government-issued devices,” the TBS spokesperson confirmed. “All public servants are expected to manage information effectively, while preserving Canadians’ right to access and protecting personal and government information.”
If Signal and WhatsApp messages are being automatically deleted, Malone argues it’s impossible to know whether or not such apps are being used for personal conversations or government business.
“I think it’s a fair presumption that anything that’s being shared or sent or received on a government-issued device is government-related,” Malone added. “It’s a work device. It’s called a ‘work device’ for a reason.”
Patricia McMahon, an assistant professor at York University’s law school, relies on Canada’s access to information system for her legal history research.
“There should be amendments and regulations and rules to ensure that technology doesn’t allow government officials to circumvent the Access to Information Act,” McMahon told CTVNews.ca. “If the rule is you have to preserve all records and all documents, and all digital correspondence constitutes records, then using an app that allows you to eliminate information has to be in contravention to the Act.”
‘How are we supposed to hold government accountable?’
Citing an “unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security,” the chief information officer was responsible for recent bans of apps like TikTok, WeChat and Kaspersky on government devices. Encrypted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp remain permitted for unclassified information. While the office promotes the proper retention of digital records, it has not issued specific rules or guidelines for disappearing message functions.
“If you have a government-issued device, you can install WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal, Confide or any of these other disappearing message apps on your phone,” Malone said. “You’re able to do that because they’re specifically not banned. And the unit that’s responsible for banning them is the Office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada.”
Malone is also the founder of Open By Default, a digital database that contains more than 7.2 million pages of documents disclosed through Canada’s access to information system. While Signal messages have been released through U.S. freedom of information requests, as far as Malone is aware, Signal messages have never been included in a Canadian access to information release.
“If we can’t get records, if we can’t actually access records of business value that show government decision-making, how are we supposed to hold government accountable?” Malone said. “How are historians supposed to tell the story of how decisions were being made?”
McMahon sees little incentive for change to come from within Ottawa.
“Our democracy depends on access to information,” she said. “Democracy works because we know what’s going on and we can hold politicians to account. And the moment we can’t find out what’s going on, the moment we don’t have an opportunity to hold politicians to account for decisions they’ve made, our democracy starts to break down.”
