From end-to-end encryption to self-destructing messages, it's clear why WhatsApp has in many cases overtaken written letters, emails, and other more official forms of communication for ministers at the heart of government.
Before modern digital communications, it was simpler to keep track of how official decisions were reached. Most of the discussions or ideas were written down by those involved or recorded by their aides. Even telephone calls on direct lines were listened into and minuted.
Many involved in politics have been attracted to WhatsApp in particular by its promise of confidentiality through"end-to-end encryption". As a result, WhatsApp records are often at the centre of contemporary demands for evidence, including from the COVID-19 Inquiry. Many news stories in recent years have been based on what people have said to each other on WhatsApp. Hence, the contortions by former health minister Lord Bethell explaining why he had deleted or lost messages on his phones and the celebrated case of Rebekah Vardy's agent's phone dropping into the North Sea.
A year ago, the Institute for Government blamed WhatsApp for poor decisions based on incomplete information, for making record keeping more difficult and for undermining accountability and transparency. Regulators and watchdog organisations accept however that it is impractical to disinvent, or completely ban the use of, personal phones and email accounts and WhatsApp.
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