Roskomnadzor inquired about Facebook business relations
On Friday, Roskomnadzor asked Facebook for information about the company's agreements with various smartphone makers, including Apple, Samsung and Microsoft. The request was made due to the fact that Facebook provides data about its users to third parties, Kommersant writes . Moreover, experts are confident that the social network is unlikely to have legal problems in Russia.
The request itself is a letter asking for agreements with manufacturers of electronic devices, agreements that allow third-party companies to access data from users of the social network. The fact that the data are provided is beyond doubt - the journalists of the New York Times at one time conducted a large-scale investigation into this matter. And provedthat the social network actually provides data to third-party companies.
Characteristically, the information was transmitted without the consent of the users regardless of the settings. Even if the owner of the page as much as possible limited access of other users to the data, information was transferred to the third parties. Among other data, the company sent partners information about the interests of friends, relationship status, religious preferences, political views.
“Access to Facebook data provided that manufacturers could integrate social networking services directly into a phone or tablet. Thanks to this, users could see friends on Facebook or receive notifications about likes posted to their records, ”said Vladimir Zykov, director of APPSIM. By the way, it was he who asked Roskomnadzor to check the social network.
Facebook partners confirm everything that was discussed above. In particular, Microsoft spokesman Artem Minaev said: “Microsoft started a partnership with Facebook in 2008, which allowed Microsoft-based devices to perform operations such as adding contacts and friends, and also receiving alerts.”
Earlier, Roskomnadzor was also interested in the method of storing user data from Facebook. So, last year, in September, Alexander Zharov promised to block the social network if it is unable or unwilling to comply with the law on the storage of personal data in Russia. Facebook audience in the country was 19.2 million people.
As mentioned above, the request of Roskomnadzor on Facebook is unlikely to threaten the company with any sanctions. “If Roskomnadzor is concerned about the safety of personal data, it would be more logical to send a request to the manufacturers of smartphones. But in this case, the banal verification of user agreements for compliance with the law “On Personal Data” was not even carried out, ”said Karen Ghazaryan, Director General of the Internet Research Institute.
Last year, Roskomnadzor representatives met with Facebook representatives. Then it was reported that the company decided to answer all questions of interest to officials. The meeting focused on the regulation of the Russian segment in the Runet. In particular, the issues of removing illegal content from the social network with the localization of the database in the Russian Federation were discussed.
In addition, the company declared in November 2017 that it is ready to fulfill the requirements of the Russian legislation, transferring servers with the personal data of Russians to Russia.
If desired, the agency may punish the social network - for example, enter in the register of violators of the rights of subjects of personal data on the grounds stipulated by the laws “On Information”. And this may threaten to lock the resource. “Facebook stores data of Russian citizens abroad, including in Ireland and the USA. These are the so-called primary databases. That is, from the point of view of the Law on Personal Data, it already violates the law, ”said Tatiana Vukolova, an associate partner of Roedl & Partner.