The government has banned registration in instant messengers on foreign numbers

    In Russia, new rules for identifying users of instant messengers, excluding anonymity, were adopted. The authorities hope that only the person to whom a specific mobile phone number is registered will be able to use the messenger. The government prepared a draft decree on identification rules ( upd: today the draft was signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the decree comes into force on May 5, 2019 ).

    How is the identification and verification organized? The main work is entrusted to mobile operators, who will keep the database of users registered in one or another messenger. MTS representatives have already reported that there are no technical problems.

    In short, the order is as follows:

    1. When registering with the service, the messenger is obliged to check whether the user's phone number is really registered to it. To do this, he makes a request to the cellular operator.
    2. The response to the mobile operator is given 20 minutes.
    3. If the data coincides with the information in the database operator, identification is considered to be passed. In this case, the operator makes a note that the subscriber uses this or that instant messenger. Cellular company makes in the database a unique ID code (login) of the user in a particular messenger.
    4. If the data does not coincide with the database or the operator did not respond within 20 minutes, then the identification is considered not passed. In this case, the service must deny the person in their services.

    “The possibility of anonymous communication in messengers makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes. The current government decree is a necessary step towards creating a safe communication environment for both citizens and the state as a whole, ”said Alexander Zharov, head of Roskomnadzor.
    For non-compliance with the rules for the owners of instant messengers, administrative responsibility is provided for, Alexander Zharov emphasized in a comment to Izvestia:

    “The instant messenger is a private communication area where, nevertheless, strangers can find you and enter into dialogue with you. In the course of such communication, it is important for each of us to understand who actually communicates with us "at the other end of the line." In conditions when messengers are available for anonymous subscriber registration, they become a favorable communication medium for various unpleasant and unsafe phenomena - annoying advertising mailings, mass distribution of unreliable information, all sorts of frauds ”.

    The government decree comes into force 180 days from the date of official publication. However, since January 1, 2018, Russia already has a law on obligatory identification of users of instant messengers, according to which the owner of the IM service is obliged to enter into agreements with telecom operators. The law is valid, but in reality it is not enforced .

    UPD. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on user identification. New rules will come into force on May 5, 2019.

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