In order to maintain confidentiality in working in Himachal Pradesh, internet media platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram have been banned from sending government documents. Not only this, there has also been a ban on carrying smartphones and smart watches in important secret meetings of the government and administration. Following the orders issued by the Central Government to prevent leakage of confidential information, the CID Cyber Crime Unit of Himachal Pradesh Police has issued instructions to all the officers and employees.
Sharing information about VIP movement on social media (Whats App) will also be considered as a legal offense. Officers will also not be able to share the information of confidential documents with other officers and employees. If any person is found sharing this information on WhatsApp then legal action will be taken against him. Many times during VIP movement people make photos or videos from mobile and share it on WhatsApp. This can be dangerous from a security point of view. Police believe that WhatsApp is not a government document. It has also often been seen that many times the government orders go around on WhatsApp even before it is implemented. This leaks the confidentiality of the department.
Himachal Cyber Crime ASP Narveer Singh said that instructions have been issued to the departments and concerned agencies in this regard. The servers of these apps are operated by private companies abroad. In such a situation, confidential information can be misused by anti-India elements. As such it has been strictly enforced. When working from home, home systems must be connected to the office network through the National Informatics Center Virtual Private Network. Confidential information will not be stored on mobile. It is also forbidden to use apps like Google Meet and Zoom for virtual meetings. The use of Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s HomePod will also be prohibited in meetings over confidential or security-related issues. Instead, it has been advised to use video conferencing equipment installed by CDAC (Department of Advanced Computing), NIC with mandatory password.
