A number of Russian doctors may be prohibited from using Apple equipment and chatting on WhatsApp

Assistant Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Alexey Kuznetsov confirmed to Kommersant that employees of subordinate institutions are informed “about the need to avoid certain actions, the use of services or equipment that have discredited themselves in terms of information security.” Earlier, Telegram channels reported that in state clinics in Moscow and St. Petersburg, doctors were prohibited from using Apple equipment, chatting on WhatsApp, and were advised not to wear smart watches. Experts confirm that the problem of maintaining medical confidentiality exists, but believe that the initiative is difficult to implement.

A number of Telegram channels, referring to the relevant orders from the heads of clinics, reported that public hospitals began to introduce bans on the use of Apple technology for work communications. It is clarified that so far these restrictions have appeared only in some institutions in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In particular, an order was published by the administration of the National Medical and Surgical Center (NMHC) named after. N.I. Pirogov (his screenshot also appeared in Telegram channels). Doctors at this institution are asked to switch to Russian AYYA, Aquarius, F+ or Chinese Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor. The instructions do not indicate that the medical institution will provide suitable gadgets, so employees will have to purchase them themselves.

Doctors are also not recommended to wear smart gadgets such as smart watches and fitness bracelets, since the devices can transmit biometric data, geolocation and other personal information. It also states that employees should set their notification settings so that they are not displayed on the home screen. Doctors were even prohibited from turning on GPS and Bluetooth functions. In addition, at NMHC it is no longer possible to conduct work correspondence on WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, Microsoft Teams and Google services. In order to “prevent information leaks,” staff are not recommended to post any information about themselves, including photographs, on social networks. This also applies to publications on social networks of relatives. According to Baza, a similar order was issued by the National Medical Research Center named after. V. A. Almazova.

Assistant Minister of Health of Russia Alexey Kuznetsov, in a conversation with Kommersant, made it clear that such recommendations really exist.

He noted that the departments responsible for information technology, in order to increase the security of the information infrastructure, constantly monitor cyber threats and inform about “the need to avoid certain actions, the use of services or equipment that have discredited themselves in terms of information security or equipment with certain software and hardware vulnerabilities.” . “Relevant decisions are taken with understanding. I know that such work is also being carried out in subordinate institutions,” said Mr. Kuznetsov.

In the regional health authorities, whose employees were interviewed by Kommersant, a ban on the use of equipment from the US company was not introduced. In the Novosibirsk region and Krasnodar region, officials emphasized that Apple equipment is not used in public hospitals anyway. The Ministry of Health of the Omsk Region noted that healthcare institutions in the region operate “within the framework of the all-Russian trend associated with the transition to domestic products, including in the IT sector.”

As Kommersant reported in the spring (see “Kommersant” dated March 23), it all started with the fact that employees of the internal political bloc of the presidential administration were recommended to exchange iPhone phones, if they use them, for smartphones of other brands and with a different operating system. Later it was reported that the ban on using Apple products affected the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Education. Deputy head of the department Alexander Shoitov announced the corresponding plans of the Ministry of Digital Development (see “Kommersant” dated August 11). Kommersant has at its disposal a copy of the internal order of the Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov. “In order to increase the security of the information infrastructure,” Mr. Falkov orders that employees of the Ministry of Education and Science be prohibited from using Apple technical equipment.

Lawyer Vladimir Voronin says that restrictions on the use of smartphones with Internet access may be related to the performance of certain professional functions.

As an example, he cites military personnel performing their duties – in this way the enemy can discover their location. “However, smartphones used by doctors for personal purposes are not classified by law as critical infrastructure requiring special protection measures. Also, these devices do not contribute to the dissemination of prohibited or restricted information, and restrictive measures are not dictated by military or other emergency purposes, as is the case with military personnel,” says Mr. Voronin.

“As soon as a person comes to the workplace, he submits not only to personal desires, but also to the requirements of the Labor Code and local regulations,” Irina Gritsenko, a medical lawyer at the Legal Policy bar association, disagrees with Mr. Voronin. “If it is stipulated there that corporate interaction between employees on issues, especially those related to medical confidentiality, must be carried out through certain sources, the use of WhatsApp, Skype and certain phone models is prohibited, then the employee must obey.” True, Ms. Gritsenko points out that in this case the employer must provide its employees with corporate phones and other equipment.

Co-chairman of the trade union of medical workers “Action” Andrei Konoval confirms that there is a “serious problem” associated with the leakage of information constituting medical confidentiality, and the management of the center named after. Pirogov and other institutions, in his opinion, with such orders they are trying to “establish order in this area.” However, he doubts the viability of the initiative. “We have a fairly common practice when the workflow of a medical institution is organized in WhatsApp chats. Orders are sent in the chat, including personal information of both employees and patients. And no one looks at what device the employee has, what software,” continues Mr. Konoval. “Therefore, it is hardly possible to monitor the execution of these instructions.”

Natalya Kostarnova; regional corset “Kommersant”