Publication date: 10 Mar 2023

Russia is constantly developing amendments to existing laws or creating new ones. Every draft law is still just an idea aimed at improving quality. What good have they come up with lately to make Internet usage more convenient and efficient?  

Online services will have to learn how to work with the personal data. Roskomnadzor is drafting amendments to the law “On Personal Data”: in the draft law, they plan to unify the rules for collecting personal data and entering into user agreements with them.

Currently, each company determines the amount of data to be collected and provides a data collection form. However, there is often excessive data collection, when the data provided is not necessary for the implementation of the service. For example, an e-mail newsletter on gambling requires an e-mail address and date of birth (to confirm the recipient’s age), whereas an address and full name is required to deliver a product. Frequently, the reason for excessive collection is not a desire for improper use of the data, but reinsurance due to a misunderstanding of the ultimate purpose of personal data processing. Yet obtaining a large amount of data can lead to incorrect storage and an increased risk of leaks. 

The new draft law proposes to make the user agreement “specific and free of negative consequences for citizens”. Among the proposals is also a ban on making the user agreement automatically consent to the processing of personal data from the moment a person enters the site.

Sending advertising push notifications will only be possible with the users’ consent. Such amendments “On Advertising” are being prepared by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS).

Such measure will allow consumers avoid receiving unwanted ads. How exactly will the consent have to be obtained and what measures can be taken in respect to violators, has not been disclosed yet.

A bill to legalize mining in Russia will again be considered by parliamentarians. One of the document’s authors, Anton Gorelkin, deputy chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, said that “consideration of the relevant regulations is quite complicated”. At the same time, he said that the law in “some form” may be implemented as early as 2023.

As a reminder, a draft law amending the Digital Financial Assets (DFA) law was registered in November 2022. It proposes to allow mining with mandatory reporting to the tax authority of the mined cryptocurrencies, with an account address. Meanwhile, the obtained digital currency can only be sold “without the use of Russian information infrastructure”, i.e., it can only be traded on foreign platforms. In addition, the amendments also affect advertising: all types of crypto offers are banned, but with an exception for mining.

We’ll monitor developments and let you know the most important things right away!