Federal Employees Can’t Remove White House App From Their Phones

In May, a The White House has announced that its new app will be automatically downloaded on millions of active phones civil servants. The problem: Federal employees I hate it and I can’t get rid of it.

Employees at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), State Department, and Department of Labor (DOL), who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said they were upset when the app appeared on their phones. Others tried to remove it, but to no avail.

“I took it off as a test and it came back,” says the USDA employee.

The program, which began in March, promises a mix of “real-time updates, real-time events, and access to the President,” according to White House website. Apparently, it is the same version that is available to the public on the Apple and Google stores. A button inside the app allows users “write President Trump,” which fills in the words ourselves reading “The greatest president.”

Under the “Social” section of the app, users can see posts from the White House X account, Trump’s Truth Social posts, and videos shared on the government’s TikTok and Instagram accounts, among other platforms. The “News” section of the program includes White House press releases, briefings, and articles, as well as selected articles from Fox, Breitbart, Reuters, The New York Post, and other outlets, all of which provide a good overview of government policies or attacks on Democrats.

One public official said: “It shows unadulterated lies running through our veins. “Maybe Fox’s ratings are too high.”

In Apple’s App Store, the app’s privacy policy is linked to official website WhiteHouse.gov privacy statement. At the bottom of the page, there is a policy section for the White House Mobile App that is limited to email, and there are no details on the privacy or data policy of the app.

“The White House app does not mean that anyone can create an account or put any information in the app, and any information on the app is safe and secure,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said when asked if there was concern that the app had been downloaded onto the phones of government employees. “Government tools often have pre-installed software that provides value in the day-to-day work of government employees.”

In April, right after the program started, cybersecurity experts announced several concerns, including that the app shared users’ location and IP addresses with others. It was developed by an Ohio company called 45Press, which, according to its own X accountfocuses on “expertise in WordPress development, design, hosting, marketing, and more.” According to the System for Award Management, which is used to track government contracts, 45Press received it $1.5 millionand was eligible to receive more than $8 million in government contracts. The the founder of the company also runs an X account described as “a great website and amazing site.” 45Press did not respond to a request for comment.

Research is to be known discovered that the app contained widgets made by a Russian company called Elfsight, which revealed information about White House officials. Elfsight did not respond to a request for comment. At the time of filing this report, a The White House said Elfsight had been made aware of this risk.

This is particularly concerning since the app appeared on the phones of State Department employees, one of whom told WIRED that they, too, tried to delete the app, only to have it appear again.