All news

Russians to be obliged to store their personal data only on domestic servers

ALEXANDROVA Lyudmila 
Meanwhile, it turned out that there are already at least ten ways to circumvent web filters

MOSCOW, July 08. /ITAR-TASS/. Following the law, which compels all payment systems to carry out all Russian transactions through processing centers in the country, the State Duma lower house of parliament has approved amendments to the laws on protection and processing of personal data in the Internet. The name and surname, sex and age as well as passport data should be stored and processed on servers located in Russia. This quite disputable document stirred up an avalanche of furious comments in the Russian sector of the Internet and sharp criticism in the expert community.

Violators of the law, adopted hastily and almost without debate last Friday, will be put on one more blacklist in a register of Russian telecommunications watchdog which has already several blacklists on pirate websites, web resources with appeals to extremism, child’s pornography, propaganda of suicide and drugs.

Experts hope that the law which is to come into force on September 1, 2016, after being approved by the Federation Council upper house of Russian parliament and signed by the president, will undergo drastic changes. Otherwise, Russians will have to give up using many popular foreign Internet services, including hotel and air ticket booking as well as purchases in Internet shops.

“The world is now suffering from a true information war, including against Russians,” author of the bill and lawmaker from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) Vadim Dengin said, noting that “the Americans are spying even after their European partners. Naturally, massive data about residence places of people, their bank accounts and their credit cards’ numbers present a keen analytical interest for security services.”

TASS may not share the opinions of its contributors