Australia’s government agencies use encrypted messaging apps such as Signal. But should they?

Senior Trump administration officials accidentally included a US journalist in a Signal group chat that included highly sensitive military plans. Politicians and their staff in Australia have long used messaging apps such as Signal to communicate. Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

The revelation that a journalist was included in a highly sensitive Signal group chat for Trump officials planning a military operation on Yemen has raised questions about the broader use of encrypted apps by politicians and public servants in Australia.

The Atlantic reported on Tuesday that its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally included in a group chat on the encrypted messaging app with more than a dozen senior Trump administration officials.