Apple Bars Medical Device Apps From iCloud

Apple no longer is allowing medical device apps to link to iCloud. The decision comes on the heels of a series of highly-publicized hacks to the computer giant’s cloud storage system.

The move to bar medical information from being placed in iCloud for storage includes all applications developed under Apple’s HealthKit program. HealthKit was designed to give practitioners a single point of access for patient information taken across different apps. It still was in the developmental stage when Apple made the announcement. However, many designers had begun working to make monitors for blood pressure and glucose compatible with the program.

Now that Apple has blocked medical device manufacturers from using iCloud to store their data, some users are questioning the overall security of their cloud storage. The computer giant repeatedly has denied any actual intrusions in to its mainframe even after private photos were leaked online.

Apple is not really commenting on whether the alleged security breech played into its decision to ban medical device apps to the iCloud. The company only has released the ban’s news in its Review Guidelines for App Store developers. It could be a proactive step in order to ensure that private patient information is not targeted by hackers or it could also be a simple buffer to absolve the computer company of any potential wrong doing for not having secured the data properly.

However, as they are written, the Review Guidelines do not make any demands of the third-party developers to design security measures of their own. They also do not require any form of protection in obtaining the data or sharing it between devices or medical personnel.