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LinkedIn refuses to store personal user data on Russia's territory

The company refused to comply with the requirement to localize databases with personal data of Russian citizens

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. LinkedIn has refused to comply with the requirement to store databases with personal data of its Russian users on the territory of Russia, Russia’s Internet watchdog said in a statement citing the corresponding letter it received from Pablo L. Chavez, vice president on international public policy at LinkedIn Corporation.

"The letter says that the company is not ready to eliminate violations of the Russian law," the statement said.

"The company refused to comply with the requirement to localize databases with personal data of Russian citizens on the territory of the Russian Federation, confirming their lack of interest in working on the Russian market."

LinkedIn in Russia

LinkedIn social business network will keep the Russian version of the website and hopes the access to the service in Russia will be restored in future, LinkedIn told TASS. 

"LinkedIn will still be available in Russian and we hope we will be capable of restoring the service in Russia in future," a company’s representative said.

In mid-November 2016, Roskomnadzor banned LinkedIn in Russia and instructed national telecommunications operators to block the world's largest professional network.

The Moscow City Court earlier rejected the appeal of LinkedIn against its blocking in Russia for violating the law on personal data localization. Under the law, the personal data of Russians should be processed and stored only in Russia.

LinkedIn social networking service was founded in December 2002 by US entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, who was vice president of the Paypal payments system. LinkedIn has more than 400 million accounts. In June 2016, Microsoft bought the website for $26.2 bln.