Council Member Morano enters chief counsel memo banning WhatsApp and Signal
Morano submits a three-page memorandum from the Mayor's Office of the Chief Counsel titled 'Communication Requirements and Best Practices,' dated January 15 with metadata suggesting 2026, which states employees should not use WhatsApp, Signal, or other communications apps for work, addressing document preservation, FOIL, and cybersecurity.
Thank you, Chair, and thank you for being here.
Chair Brewer and my colleague, Councilmember Wong, alluded to this, but I received this three-page memorandum, which I've asked the Sergeant at Arms to share with you, from the Mayor's Office of the Chief Counsel.
It's dated January 15, 2022, but it's a typo from what I understand, and the metadata suggests it's from January of 2026.
The memorandum is titled Communication Requirements and Best Practices.
On page three, it states, and I quote, you should not use WhatsApp, Signal, or any other communications app or platform for work.
This wasn't a casual suggestion.
The memo specifically addresses document preservation, FOIL compliance, and cybersecurity.
So I've asked that this document be entered into the record, and I want to ask a couple of questions about it.