Fearing a Trump crackdown, some federal workers are now using encryption apps to communicate

Cell phone
(Image credit: Getty Images)

President Trump's takeover has prompted federal employees to think twice about how they communicate, Politico reported Thursday. Shortly after Trump was sworn in, a "small group of career employees" at the Environmental Protection Agency reportedly downloaded the encryption app Signal to make it harder for hackers to access their conversations about how to deal with Trump's political appointees.

The EPA employees wanted to be able to discuss what to do if the appointees "undermine their agency's mission to protect public health and the environment, flout the law, or delete valuable scientific data," Politico reported. One EPA employee even went so far as to buy a "new, more secure cell phone."

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