Australian Federal Police staff are using the encrypted messaging app Signal to communicate on work matters, internal documents reveal.
The agency says it regularly reviews a “limited number of communications applications” being used by its staff to ensure it complies with official record-keeping requirements.
Emails between staff, obtained by Crikey via a freedom of information request, show members of the AFP’s national media team discussing using Signal to coordinate their press strategy.
Signal is a popular, open-source encrypted messaging application used on phones and computers that allows users to auto-delete their messages after a certain time period. Messaging applications like Signal use end-to-end encryption to thwart the interception of messages by technically ensuring that only the sender and receiver can read their contents.
It was thrust into the headlines earlier this year when a group of high-ranking US national security staff accidentally added a journalist to a Signal chat, revealing that they were potentially flouting record-keeping laws by using the app to coordinate military strikes in Yemen.
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Article ID: 1222247
Last year, Guardian Australia reported that half of Australia’s law enforcement agencies had banned the use of encrypted and self-deleting messaging services like Signal. The AFP was not among the police forces that had banned Signal, but did not confirm whether it was among the messaging applications that it had approved for use.
Just after the fake terrorist Dural caravan plot was discovered in mid-January, AFP media staff were coordinating to release a statement from the AFP’s then-commissioner Reece Kershaw about the status of its investigation into antisemitism, Special Operation Avalite, according to the obtained emails.
These emails show AFP staff talking about using Signal to receive approval to publish media statements and to keep each other in the loop.
On 21 January, an unnamed AFP media officer emailed Renee Viellaris, at the time the AFP’s media and communications manager, to confirm they were using Signal to coordinate the publication.
“Hi RV, please see the templated antisemitism statement […] Confirming you will give the all clear to publish via Signal,” read the email.
The staff member also emailed another unnamed staff member to thank them for helping to publish the statement: “Can you please let Renee know via Signal when the statement is live on our website,” it said.
An AFP spokesperson did not confirm the use of Signal for “operational reasons”, but said in an emailed statement that approved communication apps “have been security vetted and are regularly reviewed”.
The spokesperson also said that AFP staff are required to comply with legal and internal rules on information management.
“If any formal decision making of an official nature is made on messaging applications, a copy must be made to an official AFP system for recordkeeping purposes,” they said.
The AFP under Kershaw, who stood down earlier this year, has warned about social media companies adopting end-to-end encrypted technology for messaging applications by saying it helps criminals.
This argument was echoed in this statement about antisemitism: “All lines of inquiry are open to the investigations — including what anonymising technology, such as dedicated encrypted communication devices, have been used to commit these crimes,” he said.
