White House news app accused of excessive user data collection

Reports indicate that the White House’s official 24/7 streaming news app is collecting excessive user data and sharing it with third-party trackers. According to cybersecurity researcher Philip Fields, the app includes scripts that monitor a user’s location several times per minute, potentially sidestepping federal security rules.

The app, which has surpassed 2 million downloads and is preloaded on government-furnished mobile devices across the executive branch, has faced criticism from experts since its release in March. While developers previously delegated tracking software to third-party services following security pushback, the ultimate destination and use of the collected data remain unclear.

Concerns have been raised regarding the privacy implications for users, including the possibility that the administration could use the data to identify journalists and monitor their communications.