Forbes learned of the state’s plans to collect geographic data from Russians

The publication clarifies that the service was also discussed at a meeting of the presidium of the government commission on digital development, the use of information technologies to improve the quality of life and conditions for doing business.

At the same time, telecommunications companies fear that, even in anonymous form, the leaked data could pose a serious threat to the personal lives and security of Russians and are willing to transmit only general statistics based on this data.

The Ministry of Digital Development told the publication that the project is part of the implementation of one of the scenarios of the law “On Personal Data”, and that the State needs the data to improve state planning and management.

“For example, [государство может] understand where schools, daycares, new roads and other infrastructure facilities need to be built, provide assistance more quickly to emergency victims, identify which support measures are most needed and where, and much more,” the department’s press reports. added service.

According to a representative of the Ministry of Digital Development, the depersonalization of data eliminates the threat to the person whose movements were collected and, in principle, personal data will not be transferred.

Forbes notes that the creation of the service is part of the “State Lake” data project, adopted in the form of amendments to the Law “On Personal Data” in August of this year. “Gosozero” involves the creation of a state information system, where companies must transfer anonymized data of their customers and employees, as long as their consent is not provided for in the bill. Access to the new data sets will initially only be available to government agencies, but could later become available to other parties.

Interlocutors from the telecommunications operator market interviewed by Forbes expressed concern about the need to allocate additional resources to the State to collect, store and transmit data, as well as a possible conflict with the confidentiality of communications and the personal lives of citizens. .

According to the co-founder of the Regional Association of Privacy Professionals, Alexey Muntyan, geotracks, even in anonymous form, can be compared with specific people if other data is available, for example, information about payments in a particular location from a mobile device. particular.