Authorities Propose Limiting Communication Privacy to “Fight Fraud”
The Ministry of Economic Development has proposed lifting communication privacy protections from information about subscriber connections, traffic, and payments to operators. The proposed amendments to the “On Communications” law, developed by the ministry, have been published on the regulatory legal acts project portal.
Currently, data protected by communication privacy includes subscriber correspondence and conversations (disclosure is prohibited by the Constitution), client names, and information about all connections (where the call originated, its duration, etc.). Such data can only be disclosed by court order.
According to the explanatory note, “In the current environment of data processing technology development and the creation of solutions based on such data, the established approach to regulating the management of databases containing information about communication services provided to subscribers limits citizens’ rights to manage their data and does not allow for the full use of available information to create data-driven solutions.”
The authors of the amendments remind that, at present, providing information about subscribers who are citizens to third parties is only possible with their consent.
The ministry believes that lifting communication privacy will help combat fraud: for example, if a bank knows the region where a subscriber is located, it can block a transaction if someone tries to withdraw money from another region. Additionally, operators could create a database of fraudsters and warn users about calls from such numbers.
The ministry also suggests that removing communication privacy could benefit partner travel services. While traveling, tourists could receive information about local attractions, tours, and other events.
The document states that the full list of information from which communication privacy will be lifted, and the procedure for providing it, will be determined by the government.
The Ministry of Digital Development has supported the amendments but suggested clarifying the procedure for transferring user data to third parties. MTS told “Kommersant” that the regulation “should streamline interactions with subscribers.”
Oleg Blinov, a lecturer at Moscow Digital School, noted that “the text of the bill is strikingly different from the explanatory note.” While the note from the Ministry of Economic Development mentions the possibility of providing data to third parties with user consent, the document “gives the government the right to unilaterally determine the rules for third-party access to both billing information and subscriber data.” Blinov suggests, “It is likely that law enforcement agencies and companies included in regulatory sandboxes will have access to the data.”
At the same time, there is no guarantee that subscribers will be asked for permission before their personal data is transferred to third parties, as noted by the Telegram channel “CHTD.”
The public discussion of the bill ends on December 2, 2021. If you have comments or suggestions, you can submit them on the document’s page.
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