French Prime Minister Asks His Cabinet to Switch from WhatsApp and Telegram to Olvid which is Safer

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne encouraged ministers and top staff to install the Olvid app. (photo: x @Elisabeth_Borne)

JAKARTA - The French Prime Minister asked his cabinet to stop using popular instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram. It also called for switching to Olvid, a product from a Parisian startup that pitches itself as a safer messaging alternative.

In a circular, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne encouraged ministers and their top staff to install the Olvid app on phones and computers. He revealed this to Reuters on Wednesday, November 29.

"Olvid, run by two cryptography researchers and supported by several French technology accelerators, will replace other instant messaging systems to strengthen the security of information exchange that may contain classified information," the Prime Minister's office said.

French magazine Le Point also previously reported that the circular announcing the move gave ministers a deadline of December 8 to replace their messaging apps.

"Major consumer instant messaging applications are playing an increasingly important role in our daily communications. However, these digital tools are not without security shortcomings, and therefore cannot guarantee the security of conversations and information shared through them," said Borne, quoted by Le Points.

Messaging apps such as Meta's WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal have increasingly become key communication tools in French political inner circles. Government officials also use the app when talking to journalists. The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, is reportedly a loyal user of the messaging application.

On its website, Olvid claims to be the "first and only messaging system" that does not rely on trusted third parties and centralized servers, while also encrypting user metadata.