MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The anti-terrorism law, drafted by lawmaker Irina Yarovaya and signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2016, requires mobile service providers to pay for communication data storage. The law also obliges internet providers to give Russian security services keys to decode encrypted user messages.
"The discussion of the implementation of the provisions of the law concerning the storage of user data will continue on the government platform. On February 17, Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich will hold talks with the participation of all the parties concerned," spokesperson of the Russian government-affiliated expert working group that has recommended additional consultations on the law told Sputnik.
A petition to repeal the law published on the website of the Russian Social Initiative (ROI) was signed by more than 100,000 people, thus meeting the requirements to be considered by an expert group at the federal level. The authors of the petition stress that the law "requires a huge amount of money, can lead to bankruptcy of many Internet-companies and thus lower the country’s tax revenue."
The conclusion of the expert working group, headed by Mikhail Abyzov, says that the law does not violate the Russian constitution, will not be a burden on Internet companies and phone operators and is crucial to ensuring the security of Russian citizens amid the current global terrorist threat.
The expert group suggests holding additional consultations with all the parties concerned to further minimize company spending in connection with the Yarovaya law package.
