As elites switch to texting, watchdogs fear loss of transparency

New York

IN a bygone analogue era, lawmakers and corporate chiefs travelled great distances to swap secrets, to the smoke-filled backrooms of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, or the watering holes at the annual Allen & Co conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

But these days, entering the corridors of power is as easy as opening an app.

Secure messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Confide are making inroads among lawmakers, corporate executives and other p…