Top Ottawa Officials Use Signal, iMessage to Erase Government Messages

Top federal IT officials are using disappearing message apps on government phones—even as they preach transparency and oversee rules meant to protect public records, according to a report by CTV News.

Chief Information Officer Dominic Rochon and his deputy had apps like Signal and WhatsApp set to auto-delete messages, Freedom of Information (FOI) documents show. That directly undermines the Access to Information Act, which requires the retention of government records. His access also sought screenshots of iMessage settings on iPhones.

iMessage has a setting to only keep messages for 30 days, 1 Year or Forever. Signal can have message disappear in as little as 30 seconds to 4 weeks, while WhatsApp offers disappearing messages from 24 hours to 90 days.

Dominic Rochon had his Signal and WhatsApp chats set to automatically disappear after seven days, while his iMessage conversations were set to auto-delete after 30 days. His deputy, Mike MacDonald, relied solely on iMessage, which was also set to erase messages every 30 days.

Rochon has publicly positioned himself as a transparency advocate.

“In my mind, it’s hard to say with a straight face that you are respecting transparency and accountability laws when you are destroying text messages,” said Malone, an assistant professor in the University of Ottawa’s law faculty, who filed the FOI requests.

Rochon’s office, which banned apps like TikTok for security reasons, allows encrypted messaging apps to remain on government devices. The same office declined to explain why.

Malone calls it “next-level hypocrisy” and warns the practice erodes public trust and blocks accountability.

“They know exactly what they’re doing,” added Malone, who is also the director of the University of Ottawa’s Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic. “The government must act to ban these back channels so that we can secure the transparency and accountability Canadians deserve.”

Research from Malone says there are over 300,000 government-issued smartphones in Canada. Third-party disappearing messaging apps could be used in some parts of the government.

Patricia McMahon, a law professor at York University, relies on Canada’s access to information system for her research. “There need to be clear rules so government officials can’t use apps to dodge theAccess to Information Act,” she told CTVNews.ca. “If the law says records must be kept — and digital messages count as records — then using apps that erase them clearly goes against the Act.”