new Internet privacy laws in russia- russia enacting mass surveilance

Companies that operate in Russia are soon to be required, by law, to  go to new extremes that will invade the privacy of users. Those among  the affected will be those who offer instant messaging, social  networking, multiplayer games and any similar type of user interaction.  This means all data and communication, including text, audio and video,  will need to be stored for one year — and the data has to be accessible  to Russian authorities. 

Companies that don’t comply will be fined and  potentially blocked from offering the relevant service in Russia. According to this article,  if we learned anything from previous law enforcement practice in  Russia, the companies most affected will be email and social networking  services.

 Other companies will need to be prepared to take action as  well; the wording in the amendments is unclear in regard to what  constitutes communication. Web forms and corporate communication may be  included. Some companies have already decided to cease business within Russian territories. One example would be the  Private Internet Access VPN — a VPN well known for keeping clients safe  by not keeping logs or user data. 

This amendment would make those  actions illegal. In the email to customers, the mention how some of their servers got  seized by authorities in Russia. However, even though this law will  require companies to allow Russian authorities full access to  unencrypted user info, Private Internet Access customers will be safe  because no user data has been stored. 

So it appears that any company that hasn’t stored data in the past  won’t be held accountable for that data, but going forward, companies  who are concerned with privacy will need to reevaluate their stance on  keeping private communications. For users, this means any interaction in  Russia, sending or receiving, won’t be secure. This is something that  needs to paid attention to as it could become as real concern as early  as July 20th.