PARIS: The Prime Minister of France, Elisabeth Borne, has instructed her cabinet members to cease using popular instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram. Instead, she advocates for the adoption of Olvid, a relatively lesser-known messaging app developed by a Paris-based startup, positioned as a more secure alternative.
According to a ministerial circular, Prime Minister Borne has called on ministers and their top-level staff to install the Olvid app on their phones and computers. The move is aimed at enhancing the security of exchanges that may involve confidential information, as confirmed by her office to Reuters, substantiating earlier reports by French media.
Olvid, developed by two cryptography researchers and supported by various French tech accelerators, is slated to “replace other instant messaging systems” to bolster the security of sensitive information, as stated by the Prime Minister’s office.
The circular, as reported by French magazine Le Point, outlines a deadline of December 8 for ministers to transition away from their current messaging apps. Prime Minister Borne emphasized the security vulnerabilities in widely-used digital tools, stating, “The main consumer instant messaging applications are playing an increasingly important role in our day-to-day communications. However, these digital tools are not without security flaws and so cannot guarantee the security of conversations and information shared via them.”
Messaging apps such as Meta’s WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal have gained prominence within the inner circles of French politics, with government officials using these platforms for communication, even with journalists. President Emmanuel Macron himself is reputed to be a keen user of messaging apps.
Olvid, according to its website, positions itself as “the first and only messaging system” that operates without reliance on trusted third parties and centralized servers, while also encrypting user metadata.
