The increasing popularity of WhatsApp across the industry spectrum is pushing government bodies to pass and implement new laws that would cover the archiving of communications – whether text messages or voice calls – in this channel.
The need to capture and record WhatsApp calls, in particular, is becoming a key concern of many industries as more and more employees are using the encrypted app to make phone calls with their colleagues and customers – conversations which are likely to include information which is deemed relevant to the organization and therefore must be archived for compliance reasons, among other reasons. WhatsApp is used in many regulated industries. Recent regulation changes require companies to archive mobile and WhatsApp communication as mandated by FINRA, SEC, MiFID, FOIA, and Public Record regulations.
Read on as we discuss in this infographic the significant U.S. laws that mandate the recording of WhatsApp calls, among other electronic content.
- FOIA/ State Sunshine Laws
The Freedom of Information Act is the federal law that governs the retention of electronically stored information, which affects every business. According to FOIA, all agencies are required to keep records of public interest, including information stored electronically, such as phone calls made through WhatsApp.
While FOIA archiving laws affect agencies on the federal level, state-level laws, otherwise known as Sunshine Laws, also exist which requires state agencies and public offices and institution to retain all electronically stored information, including WhatsApp calls, within certain time periods, and to make these records readily accessible for law enforcement and public scrutiny.
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Laws
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implements various laws that require companies under its jurisdiction to archive records made by their employees during their business. The SEC Rule 17a-3 and 17a-4, in particular, details that financial services companies must retain records of their marketing materials, sales scripts, audio or visual records, and any electronic or social media records.
In December 2018, the SEC released a risk alert which notifies U.S. financial advisers and their personnel that they are tightening their monitoring efforts to those who use text messaging, instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp, and personal emails to communicate with their clients. The risk alert came after the OCIE conducted a limited-scope examination designed to obtain an understanding of the various forms of electronic messaging being used by advisers, the risk of such use, and the challenges in complying with certain recordkeeping provisions of the Advisers Act Rule 204-2.
Gramm-Leach Bliley Act
The Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) imposes rules that mandate banks and firms to protect information about their customers, including those that are referenced during WhatsApp calls. This then requires firms to optimize and secure their WhatsApp archiving storage to ensure that customer information relayed through WhatsApp calls are protected against illegal access and breaches.
- Dodd-Frank Act
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act requires Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants to retain transactional records related to trades. These records include the information created before, during and after a trade, and can be in the forms of oral (phone, voice mail) and written (email, chat, SMS, fax) communication that led to trade execution.
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Section 802 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 stipulates that publicly traded companies should maintain a complete and accurate electronic business record for internal and external reporting. This includes archived copies of electronic documents and communications such as WhatsApp calls.
- Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
The Federal Rule on Civil Procedures (FRCP) imposes rules which essentially requires all organizations to retain all communications, files, directives, and request that may be relevant to litigation. This includes mobile conversations such as WhatsApp phone calls, which might be required by a judicial court during the investigation process.
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The revised Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) addresses the rise of instant messaging platforms across U.S. businesses and foreign corruptions, and now includes more updated rules for the retention of records generated through such platforms.
The amended rule now allows corporations doing business with foreign companies to use apps such as WhatsApp to communicate with their clients, as long as they have sufficient control systems in place that will ensure that the app is being used in accordance with the company policies for archiving business-related communications.
- Criminal Justice Information Services
The Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) implements a set of standards that aims to maintain a secure criminal information database. Among these standards is the requirement for government agencies to ensure maximum protection to electronically stored information, including WhatsApp, calls containing relevant criminal information, during storage and transmission.
Conclusion
To ensure that your organization can comply with the regulations to capture, record, and monitor phone calls, you must have a solution to capture and record WhatsApp calls. This will eliminate the reliance on the WhatsApp server’s capability to retain calls, chats, and attachments, and instead will give your organization the capability it needs to meet various legal and regulatory archiving requirements.
The TeleMessage’s WhatsApp Archiver is a unique platform tailor-made to solve WhatsApp call recording compliance and regulation issues by allowing firms to capture and archive WhatsApp calls and messages, thus allowing for further monitoring of WhatsApp calls for compliance and other relevant purposes. This platform works exactly like the standard WhatsApp application, ensuring that your employees will still be able to send work-related communications easily and quickly.
WhatsApp Call Recording Benefits
The benefits of using WhatsApp Archiver in your business include:
- Archive all WhatsApp communications
- Use WhatsApp to communicate with customers, employees, and stakeholders
- Search, track and retrieve WhatsApp messages in the corporate archive
- Deposit WhatsApp messages with any email archiving vendor
- Full administration and reporting
The TeleMessage WhatsApp Archiver is the latest addition to our mobile archiving products that securely capture content from mobile carriers and mobile devices for a variety of ownership models (BYOD, CYOD, and employer-issued). With our multiple archiving methods, you can always find the right tools or blend for your requirements:
Visit our website today at www.telemessage.com to learn more about how our mobile archiving products can help your organization maintain compliance with various WhatsApp call recording regulations.
