MOSCOW, July 04. /ITAR-TASS/. The State Duma has adopted legal changes regarding regulation of the internet, where foreign companies owning mail services, social networks and search engines are to keep Russian users’ personal data exclusively on servers located in Russia from September 1, 2016.

Under the new bill, email addresses and messages are considered personal data. The document reads “while collecting personal data, including by means of the internet, an operator should provide recording, systematization, storage and update of the Russian citizen’s personal data using databases located in the territory of the Russian Federation.”

The bill offers certain sanctions. For example, domain names or net addresses not complying with regulations will be put on a special registrar of those violating rights of personal data subjects. Breaching the law will cause limitation of access to the information resource.