All news

Russian security service may get right to take fingerprints of foreigners on border

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russia’s State Duma has passed amendments to the draft law on the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB, former KGB), which empower the agency’s employees to take fingerprints of persons on the border who may be recruited to take part in terrorist activities. The document is considered in the second reading on Tuesday.

In particular, the FSB will be able to "receive, take into account, store, classify, use, dispense and destroy biometric personal data about the papillary pictures of fingers or palms of a person, which make it possible to establish his or her identity as part of the border control procedures with regard to persons crossing the Russian border, with the availability of signs pointing to the possibility of luring them into terrorist activities, recruiting or involving them in terrorist activities by other means," a new version of the draft law says.

The voting on it will take place after 17:00 Moscow Time.

The list of such signs and the procedure to obtain biometric data and processing genomic information will be determined by the FSB head.

"We are expanding the possibilities of the FSB," rapporteur on the bill and Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Security and Anti-Corruption Committee Ernest Valeyev told TASS. According to him, the Russian Federal Security Service does not have such powers now, "strictly speaking."

The lawmaker noted that the new regulations would also apply to Russians. "This stems from the emergence of additional threats embodied by ISIS (former name of the Islamic State terrorist group outlawed in Russia) and the involvement of a number of individuals in these groups and the subsequent penetration into the country," he said.

"The intelligence agencies have data on the persons who collaborate with terrorist groups, above all, ISIS. These persons’ biometric data will be collected when they cross the border," Valeyev said.