In order to ensure more privacy in official communication, the Union government will soon be rolling out its own instant messaging service for mobile phones, reported The Financial Express. Named Government Instant Messaging Service (GIMS), the new app is likely to be launched later this year, the report said. With the introduction of GIMS, other messaging platforms such as WhatsApp are likely to face a hit.

This development comes in the wake of cyber security threats against the government in the past, a former government official was quoted as saying in the report.

“Such a service is very important, especially in light of software like Pegasus, which can be used to snoop on conversations on WhatsApp,” he was quoted as saying by the paper.

GIMS, the pilot tests for which are currently being conducted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), may be used by central as well as state government offices and departments, the Financial Express report added.

The app has been developed for both the Android and iOS platforms . A total of 17 government organisations including Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), MeitY, Indian Navy and Indian Railways are participating in the testing of GIMS.

First Published:Jan 23, 2020 12:11 PM IST