Re: [Gnumed-devel] secure messaging

[J Busser]

What is the approach to the scenario where one or more messages, 
which had been encrypted using the public key of a specific doctor, 
arrives in the doctor's system while the doctor is away? It may not 
matter for purely personal items however in the case of any 
time-sensitive patient needs it could be a big problem.

The message, if unconfirmed beyond a defined time, *could* notify the 
message originator who could re-send it to an alternative person, but 
what then if the *originator* happened to be away?

Is there any provision for the information to be securely messaged 
(emailed) to a group, rather than to an individual? And who decrypts 
on behalf of the group? A trusted computer administrator/ clinical 
manager could be responsible for the decryption process obviating any 
breach of the individual doctors' personal passphrases. And yet even 
if the sending party could *know* to send the message to a group, 
this approach would preclude the perhaps intended ability to limit 
the message to the individual, rather than to the group responsible 
for a patient.