PM still uses non-government email service

The Prime Minister’s office has confirmed Malcolm Turnbull has continued using a non-government email service since becoming the nation’s leader, according to news reports from the ABC.

Malcolm Turnbull has previously acknowledged his use of the secret messaging app Wickr earlier in the year “because they’re superior over-the-top messaging platforms”.

Wickr is an app that claims messages sent between users cannot be tracked, intercepted or monitored and are then forensically wiped from their device after they expire.

A spokesman reportedly said that while Turnbull has continued to make use of services outside of federal parliament’s secure servers since moving into the Prime Minister’s office, the server is located in Australia.

“Many MPs and ministers use private messaging systems — including SMS, WhatsApp, Wickr, etc and private emails, etc — for non-sensitive material for reasons of convenience and superior functionality,” the spokesman said.

“All communications or records of a minister which relate to his or her duties are [subject to many exemptions] potentially subject to Freedom of Information, whether it is on SMS, a private email server or a government email server.

"The majority of government correspondence is routine and of a non-sensitive nature and is therefore not subject to sensitive security markings.”

Image courtesy of CeBIT Australia under CC