Communications Ministry proposes to tighten control over personal data

The other day, the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media received a proposal to ban both private individuals and companies from creating publicly accessible databases with personal data that are collected from state information systems (GIS). The processing of such data in this case will be strictly taken into account and certified. As for the GIS, they should not have redundant information, as reported by Vedomosti.

Personal data operators who independently received them from people and transferred for processing to other persons should monitor and be responsible for this data. Violators will be forced to pay fines. Thus, private individuals will have to pay up to 2,000 rubles, officials - about 6,000, individual entrepreneurs - up to 10,000, legal entities - up to 30,000.

What can be stored in publicly available sources of personal data - names, surnames, year and metro of birth, address, subscriber number, information about the person’s profession. Also included in the publicly available data are the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, which is maintained by the Federal Tax Service, the bank of debtors of the Federal Bailiff Service, the registry of terror suspects on the Rosfinmonitoring website, and the register of active power of attorney on the website of the Federal Notary Chamber.

As for fines, they threaten individuals who collect, process and publish a wide range of data, including the automatic execution of these works. This data includes information on ownership, TIN, debt, passports, border crossings. The regulation, among other things, will include the reduction of such data into databases, the creation of sites that allow you to search on them. In addition, it can be directories, census data, consumer surveys, media audiences, and opinion polls.

Each GIS is now clearly described in law. Thus, publicly available data from already created GIS can be processed, if it is determined by their rules. So, for example, using YOGROYUD data in databases like SPARK-Interfax, according to experts, does not violate the law. Public data that such companies collect is monetized by them - but the new regulation will allow this type of activity. If the bills are passed, the regulation of many GIS can be changed, and in such a way that they will not be able to publish personal data.

Experts say that bills encourage personal data operators to develop and implement measures to control third parties so that they do not violate the law. This, in turn, should increase the discipline of operators, but measures may not work, since fines are very low. Moreover, the new regulation will greatly complicate the transfer of personal data for processing - companies will have to take measures regarding the processing of transfer documents.

As for telecom operators, they consider it reasonable to establish the responsibility of the operator for the actions of its contractors on the processing of personal data. Representatives of Megafon suggest clarifying the criteria for “proper control” in the bill, the definition of which currently looks evaluative and uncertain.

It is worth recalling that in early November, the Ministry of Communications proposed to create alternative instant messengers. The problem is that Russian and Chinese media are facing unfair competition and restrictions on the dissemination of information. For this reason, as Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Telecommunications and Mass Media Alexei Volin said at the 4th forum of the media in China and Russia, “Moscow and Beijing should be ready to create alternative networks and instant messengers.”