On August 25, Russian programmer Leonid Evdokimov delivered a presentation at the “Chaos Constructions” IT conference in St. Petersburg, where he presented a paper titled “SORM Defects” about the public availability of Russian Internet users’ personal data. It turns out that Russians’ mailing addresses, telephone numbers, login names, and geolocation coordinates are openly available. Evdokimov …
Starting from October 31, 2021, the personal data of Russian citizens who book domestic flight tickets will have to be stored on servers located physically on Russian soil. This new requirement stems from a decree signed in late July by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in application of a 2014 law on personal data storage in …
FaceApp, a mobile application that can realistically transform the photo of a person’s face using artificial intelligence, has come under harsh attacks in international media under claims that users’ personal data could be misused. Launched in St Petersburg in 2017 by Wireless Lab (which is now a resident of Russia’s largest tech park Skolkovo), FaceApp has …
Russian AR app FaceApp sparks international controversy over privacy concerns Read More
Data breaches by Russian hackers are a global concern now, but the BBC has discovered how easy it is to buy personal data such as passport and bank account details in Russia itself. According to cyber-security experts, vast quantities of supposedly private data – including from Russian state institutions – are bought and sold every …
Russian data theft: Shady world where all is for sale Read More
Although Russia’s total share of the global cloud storage market is still under 1%, the sector is undergoing a boom as foreign companies hire local service providers to store Russians’ data, a recent study by iKS-Consulting revealed. Adopted in 2014, Russia’s personal data law requires companies operating in Russia to store Russian users’ or clients’ …
New regulations boost Russia’s cloud service businesses Read More
Facebook and Twitter have been given nine months by Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, to move Russian users’ data onto servers located physically on Russia soil. As reported yesterday by the Interfax news agency, Roskomnadzor’s head Alexander Zharov expressed “hope” that the two companies will comply with Russian legislation on personal data storage, and …
Facebook and Twitter given nine more months to comply with Russian data-localization law Read More
Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, initiated today a lawsuit against Twitter for failing to provide information about its compliance with the Russian data-localization law. The US microblogging platform is now facing an administrative fine of 5,000 rubles ($764 at the current exchange rate). Ultimately Twitter, should it violate the law, could be blocked …
Twitter targeted by lawsuit for non compliance with Russian data-localization law Read More
While Facebook and Twitter are being exposed to administrative charges for non-compliance with Russia’s data localization law, Apple Inc. detailed the user data it is storing in Russia. Apple users in the region have data including their name, delivery address, email address and phone number stored on servers in Russia. The company said it collects …
Apple provides details on compliance with Russian data-localization law Read More
The Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, FRII in Russian) is lobbying Russian lawmakers to adjust the legal definition of personal data, introduce the concept of “depersonalized data” and allow citizens to sell their own “depersonalized data” on the market. According to the fund, which has prepared draft amendments to the existing legislation, individuals could earn as much …
Russian Big Data business wants to create legal market for ‘depersonalized data’ Read More
Will Facebook and Twitter abide by the law on personal data storage, or could they ultimately be blocked in Russia like LinkedIn? The suspense remains as the two companies failed again last week, more than three years after the law came to force, to prove their compliance with it. Adopted in 2014 and applicable since September 2015, this law …
Thousands of wealthy Moscow residents who subscribed to a regional Internet provider have had personal data including names, home addresses and mobile numbers posted online. People affected by the data leak are all clients of Moscow-based internet provider Akado Telecom, a large telecommunications network owned by billionaire businessman Viktor Vekselberg, which said it had opened an …
Data leak affects thousands of wealthy Moscow residents Read More
Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, has requested Facebook to provide explanations about its past data-sharing partnerships with at least 60 mobile device makers, including Apple, BlackBerry, Microsoft and Samsung. As reported last week by the business daily Kommersant, Roskomnadzor’s move followed a request from the Association of Professional Social Media and Messengers Users (APPSIM in Russian) …
