The White House Is Watching You

The White House app covertly collects excessive user data, including location checks several times per minute, and shares it with third-party trackers while sidestepping federal security rules, according to reporting by The Washington Sun’s Gavin J. Quinton.

The App has more than 2 million downloads and is preloaded on government-furnished phones across the executive branch. Its App Store privacy manifest is blank, implying it collects nothing, even as cybersecurity researchers say the opposite. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Cybersecurity experts have warned about the app since its March release. After pushback over its security, White House developers shifted tracking functions to third-party services. “The people who do want to hear that message are going to the White House for it, and in doing so, they’re giving up a lot of information about themselves, and that provides the White House with an advantage going into the midterms,” said Philip Fields, a cybersecurity researcher and former FBI intelligence analyst who has studied the app.

Joseph Gera, a former Apple App Store developer and senior platform engineer, said the app is unstable and insecure. “It’s asking for your location data in real time. It also asks for personal information to access your financial data, to access your messages, to access all kinds of information.”

The administration has promoted the app as a legitimate news source after launching a 24/7 stream amid Donald Trump’s effort to decide who covers him. Social media teasers that “something’s coming” preceded the Trump TV launch. While networks halted pool coverage in solidarity with banned media outlets, users who turn to the official stream surrender substantial personal data. Where that data goes and how it is used remains unclear.