Borne asks ministers to delete WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram from their phones and use Olvid

2023-11-29 23:08:01

Matignon asked members of the government and ministerial cabinets to install the French Olvid application on their phones and computers “to replace other instant messaging services in order to strengthen the security of exchanges”, indicated the Prime Minister’s services.

The instruction, formulated in a circular, notes that “the main general public instant messaging applications” (WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, etc.) “occupy a growing place in our communications”, but “are not without security vulnerabilities”.

According to this circular, ministers will therefore have to replace these messaging services with Olvid before December 8.

Available since 2018 on Android and Apple, Olvid offers end-to-end message encryption, which means that its equipment cannot read messages passing through the platform. But unlike its competitors, it does not require the use of a SIM card, and therefore a telephone number, a simple Internet connection is enough.

Security questions

Matignon justifies his decision by security issues, Olvid being “the only encrypted messaging platform to have received first level security certification from the National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI)”.

“The integration of this solution constitutes not only a sign of awareness in matters of cybersecurity, but also a step towards greater French technological sovereignty,” adds the circular.

Olvid, which prides itself on being “the most secure instant messaging app in the world”, is particularly attractive thanks to an innovation: the removal of the centralized user directory, supposed to allow maximum security of conversations. Messages are end-to-end encrypted, a practice now standard in the industry, but on Olvid, their metadata (who speaks to whom and when) is as well.

As the data is not kept on the central server, it does not require any particular security for so-called sensitive data, specifies the circular. For security experts, the still limited use of Olvid does not make it possible to prove its reliability when scaling up.