The Ministry of Digital Development has prepared a draft government decree that defines the cases in which authorities can request anonymous data from companies about their customers and employees. Forbes has reviewed the document and the publication’s source at the Ministry of Economic Development is also aware of its provisions.
Author:
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The project details the law signed by Vladimir Putin in August, which involves the creation of a “state lake” of data, a state information system where companies and municipal organizations must transfer anonymized personal data upon request, the publication clarified.
According to the document, the authorities, in particular, may request information from companies in the event of an emergency threat throughout the territory of Russia or part of it, to prevent terrorism in the event of the introduction of a regime of anti-terrorist operations, as well as to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and poisoning if a quarantine is introduced.
A “painful reaction” among business representatives surveyed by Forbes provoked the last two points of the project, which will give authorities the right to collect information from companies to carry out research in the economic and social spheres, as well as for the “implementation of activities defined in state programs, national and federal projects, priority programs and projects in Russia.”
The draft decree will make it possible to request information from companies “in practically any case,” the Big Data Association (BD, which includes Sberbank, Megafon, Yandex, VTB, Rostelecom and others) told Forbes. They highlighted the need to establish a transparent mechanism for public discussion of cases in which authorities may request data to carry out investigations and “implement activities” of state programs and projects.
In addition, if the document is approved, companies will incur significant costs for the depersonalization of information, added Deputy General Director of the Garda group of companies, Rustem Khairetdinov. Risks of data anonymization also remain, Kristina Mkrtchyan, intellectual property counsel at law firm EDB, told the publication.
According to Forbes, the document should come into force in September 2025. The Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Economic Development did not respond to the publication’s requests.
Author:
Bogdan Muzychenko
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
