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Expert: Requirements of Russian anti terrorist package contradict import substitution idea

The so-called Yarovaya Package's requirements to telecom operators and Internet companies contradict the idea of import substitution in the IT sphere

MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Current requirements of the antiterrorist laws package (the so-called "Yarovaya Package") to telecom operators and Internet companies contradict the idea of import substitution in the IT sphere, Vice President of Russian IT company Parallels (virtualization software developer) Nikolai Dobrovolsky told TASS on Thursday.

From July 1, 2018, the "Yarovaya Package" laws will bind telecommunications operators to store data about reception, transmission, delivery and processing of voice and text messages, images, sounds and video for three years. The "heaviest" files - the content of messages, images, sounds and video - operators must store for six months. They are obliged to provide all this information on-demand to security services.

In addition to telecommunication operators, the law also obliges Internet companies to store certain data. In particular, they will be required to store information about data transmission facts and data about users for one year

"Combating terrorism is a highly important topic. However, simple storage of the whole information volume is a very complicated and costly task. At the same time, it somewhat runs counter to our import substitution idea, because we do not have technologies making possible to produce these storage systems," Dobrovolsky said. "It turns out that about 10% of our GDP will have to be given to companies from other countries in order to receive such storage systems," he added.

"It will be much more efficient to invest money into information processing and systematization systems or algorithms and into keeping of its metadata," the expert said. "Then it will be possible to respond to some "check words" in the course of data processing," Dobrovolsky added.