MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, has passed a law that would oblige all foreign Internet companies operating in Russia to retain the personal data of Russians exclusively within Russia.
Internet companies involved in the sales of airline and other transportation tickets and goods, as well as personal social network information must retain the information only inside the country.
The law would demand that Twitter, Facebook, eBay and Booking.com open offices in Russia to store personal information. The law also affects Russian companies such as Aeroflot, because the airline uses a foreign system to book tickets.
If the Russian president signs the bill into law, it will take effect on September 1, 2016.
Online resources that violate the new regulation would be put on the Russian telecommunications agency’s blacklist of websites that promote extremism, suicide, drugs and child pornography.
