Kathmandu, July 2: The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has directed all three tiers of government not to use mobile applications to scan official government documents.
According to a circular issued by the Information Technology Division of the OPMCM, the measure has been introduced primarily to ensure digital security and protect data confidentiality.
The circular states that using third-party mobile scanning applications available in the market (such as CamScanner) poses a significant risk, as scanned documents may be transmitted to and stored on foreign servers.
This creates the possibility of sensitive state information, including policy decisions, confidential remarks, and classified documents, being exposed through digital channels, posing a serious threat to national security.
The circular further emphasises that safeguarding the confidentiality and secure archiving of official government documents is the responsibility of every government office and public official. It stated that the growing practice of using mobile phone cameras or scanning applications to capture documents for official correspondence, decisions, and record-keeping has increased the risk of sensitive information falling into unauthorised hands.
According to Dipa Dahal, Press and Research Advisor to Prime Minister Balendra Shah, scanning official government documents using mobile applications leaves national security and data confidentiality highly vulnerable.
She explained that most mobile scanning applications have direct access to users’ data, and there is no guarantee regarding where or how that data is stored or secured.
Allowing sensitive state documents to leave official systems through such digital platforms constitutes a serious breach of data privacy and confidentiality.
She added that the directive should be understood not merely as a technical precaution, but as an essential measure to safeguard national security.
