Senate Commerce Committee wants answers on Whisper app

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) requested a staff briefing from Whisper CEO Michael Heyward. The app, which allows users to share short messages anonymously online, might have violated its terms of service agreement with customers. "It is questionable, at best, whether users seeking to post anonymously on the 'safest place on the Internet' would expect that WhisperText has information sharing relationships with third parties such as media organizations," said Chairman Rockefeller. He also took issue with the company having a location in the Philippines that is used to screen messages. The senator said that could also violate the terms of service. Chairman Rockefeller, however, did not mention another portion of the article describing a partnership with the Department of Defense in which the company shares how frequently suicide is mentioned among individuals on US military bases.