The Ministry of Economic Development approved the draft bill of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media that obliges owners of technological communication networks to store traffic for three years for provision to special services. In its review the department notes that the draft “did not identify provisions that introduce excessive administrative and other restrictions and obligations for business entities and other activities”.

According to the Yarovaya Law, which entered into force on July 1, 2018, telecom operators in Russia are required to store all user traffic in the country, including voice messages and SMS, text messages, images, audio, video and other electronic messages of the users. Companies are obliged to provide this information at the request of the special services.

At the end of June, Mintsifry published a draft bill for public discussion. According to the draft, the owners of technological communication networks (networks designed to ensure the production activities of organizations and enterprises) are also required to store such information. It must be stored for three years in the territory of the Russian Federation and, if necessary, provided to the special services.

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has already criticized the document. The Union believes that the implementation of the law will lead to significant increases in costs for the owners of such networks, and can increase the risks of disrupting the technological processes of enterprises and reduce the level of safety of these processes.

Text of the draft bill of Ministry of Digital Development (in Russian)

Original (in Russian)