A Stormont department is conducting a review of ministers’ and staff use of WhatsApp and other communications platforms after some departmental phones were wiped during the pandemic.
The Scottish government announced this week it was to ban the messaging app in response to an external review into its use, after the UK Covid Inquiry revealed officials and ministers had deleted WhatsApp messages exchanged during the pandemic.
Scottish deputy first minister Kate Forbes said the move was an attempt to improve “standards of openness, transparency, and accountability”.
It emerged during the Northern Ireland module of the inquiry earlier this year that the mobile devices of a number of Stormont ministers had been “wiped” - including WhatsApp messages from current First Minister Michelle O’Neill and former First Minister Arlene Foster.
Counsel to the inquiry Clair Dobbin said its legal team had expressed “grave concern” over the loss, which became the subject of an investigation by the Executive Office.
When asked whether Stormont would consider a similar move to its counterparts in Scotland, the Department of Finance confirmed it was conducting a review to address “gaps” in its information and records management policies.
“The Department of Finance is taking forward a review of information and records management policies to identify and address any gaps, taking account of emerging findings from the Covid Inquiry,” a departmental spokesperson said.
DoF, which is led by Sinn Féin’s Caoimhe Archibald, has taken on the review as it is the lead Stormont department in relation to record and information management for the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
The Irish News asked when the review began and under whose direction but this was not answered directly, saying it “continuously reviews policies” relating to information and record management.
An update was requested from the Executive Office on the investigation launched in response to the wiping of ministerial phones, but at the time of publication one had not been provided.
A spokesperson for Stormont opposition party the SDLP said it welcomed any move to make government decision making more transparent.
The party said: “The Executive should consider anything that results in more openness, transparency and accountability around government decision making.
“It’s also vitally important that sensitive information is protected and is not easily accessible or can fall into the wrong hands.”
