Cybersecurity & Tech Executive Branch Surveillance & Privacy

TechTank: ‘Signalgate’ and the use of commercial apps in government

Nicol Turner Lee, Stephanie Pell, Scott R. Anderson
Monday, April 7, 2025, 12:00 PM
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On March 15, the United States carried out strikes in Yemen reportedly killing dozens of people. On March 24, The Atlantic published an article revealing that its editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to a group chat where high-ranking national security officials shared plans for the strikes. Goldberg was invited to a group chat on the commercial messaging app, Signal, by national security adviser Mike Waltz. Upon accepting, he was included in a chain with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, among several other high-level officials in the Trump administration. 

Signal, which is operated by a nonprofit and provides end-to-end encryption for users’ messages, is considered one of the safest messaging systems for the public, but it is not recommended—or in some circumstances not approved—for government officials’ communication of sensitive information. But this leak is the latest in a long-running series of events surrounding privacy and security of government information, leading to questions about how this is being considered under the second Trump administration. 

In this episode of the TechTank Podcast, co-host Nicol Turner Lee speaks with Brookings fellows Stephanie Pell and Scott Anderson about these implications, possible shifts or concerns in cybersecurity, and how the government can ensure its information remains secure. 

Listen to the episode and subscribe to the TechTank Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Acast. 

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Cybersecurity & Tech Executive Branch Surveillance & Privacy
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Nicol Turner Lee

Nicol Turner Lee

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Dr. Nicol Turner Lee is a senior fellow in Governance Studies, the director of the Center for Technology Innovation, and serves as Co-Editor-In-Chief of TechTank. Dr. Turner Lee researches public policy designed to enable equitable access to technology across the U.S. and to harness its power to create change in communities across the world. Her work also explores global and domestic broadband deployment and internet governance issues. She is an expert on the intersection of race, wealth, and technology within the context of civic engagement, criminal justice, and economic development.
Stephanie Pell

Stephanie Pell

StephanieKPell
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Stephanie Pell is a Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Editor at Lawfare. Prior to joining Brookings, she was an Associate Professor and Cyber Ethics Fellow at West Point’s Army Cyber Institute, with a joint appointment to the Department of English and Philosophy. Prior to joining West Point’s faculty, Stephanie served as a Majority Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. She was also a federal prosecutor for over fourteen years, working as a Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, as a Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the National Security Division, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Scott R. Anderson

Scott R. Anderson

S_R_Anders
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Scott R. Anderson is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow in the National Security Law Program at Columbia Law School. He previously served as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State and as the legal advisor for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
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