WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms' ( META )

WhatsApp messaging service has been banned from all U.S. House

of Representatives devices, according to a memo sent to all

House staff on Monday.

The notice said the "Office of Cybersecurity has deemed

WhatsApp a high risk to users due to the lack of transparency in

how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption,

and potential security risks involved with its use."

The memo, from the chief administrative officer, recommended

using other messaging apps, including Microsoft Corp's ( MSFT )

Teams platform, Amazon.com's ( AMZN ) Wickr, Signal, and Apple's ( AAPL )

iMessage and FaceTime.

Meta disagreed with the move "in the strongest possible

terms," a company spokesperson said, noting that the platform

provides a higher level of security than the other approved

apps.

In January, a WhatsApp official said Israeli spyware company

Paragon Solutions had targeted scores of its users, including

journalists and members of civil society.

The House has banned other apps from staff devices in the

past, including the short video app TikTok in 2022 due to

security issues.