January 15, 2024

They Are Listening to You


They Are Listening to You
Medical office in a polyclinic in Moscow. stroi.mos.ru, Wikimedia Commons

The Moscow Department of Health has installed listening devices in doctors' offices, per Order No. 1241, "On the Replication of the Project for Audio Monitoring of Outpatient Doctor Appointments." According to the order, audio recording devices are mandated to be placed in doctors' offices to assess caregivers' performance and adherence to Ministry regulations.

The directive specifically prohibits actions such as making fun of patients, criticizing management, uttering complex terms, and using phrases and words like "molodoy chelovek" (young man), "khvatit" (enough), or "yasno" (clear).

Maria Gubareva, an obstetrician-gynecologist and deputy head of the All-Russian Trade Union of Healthcare Workers Deystvie (Action), asserts that control over conversations is already underway, and the order merely legitimizes the practice. Gubareva wonders whether patients’ consent to audio recording will be sought or if contacting a government agency implies that the patient automatically agrees that all intimate details, which may not be disclosed openly even to a doctor, will be accessible to third parties. 

The new regulation follows a trend of invasive new rules in Russia, including these examples:

  • According to a recently adopted law, taxi services are required to provide the Federal Security Service (FSB) with access to their databases, sharing with the agency information on all their passengers.
  • A leak from Russian tech giant Yandex revealed that the Alice (don't call her Alexa) smart speaker can activate its microphone for several seconds, even when the user does not say its name.
  • VKontakte, the largest social network in Russia, has collaborated closely with law enforcement agencies for many years, sharing sensitive information about its users.
  • Law enforcement agencies have successfully apprehended individuals evading mobilization through the use of cameras and a facial recognition system.

Governmental agencies are not the only entities gaining access to Russians' data. In 2022, the number of leaked records containing personal data on Russians was 4.5 times higher than the country’s population, totaling 667 million. The frequency of data breaches continues to escalate, with 705 million records leaked into the public domain in just the first half of 2023. 

You Might Also Like

The Women with the White Scarves
  • January 08, 2024

The Women with the White Scarves

Family members of drafted soldiers picketed solo in Moscow demanding the return of their loved ones from the war in Ukraine.
Student Sentenced for Spying
  • January 03, 2024

Student Sentenced for Spying

For the first time, Russia has sentenced a student for spying. The 18-year-old was a high-achieving student.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955