The State Duma of Russia recently passed a new bill setting administrative fines in the millions of rubles for violating the rule to localize personal data, and for violating certain provisions of information legislation. Passed in the third reading, it is Bill No. 729516-7 "On amendments of certain federal acts of the Russian Federation" (the "Bill").

This is the first bill to set administrative sanctions for failure to comply with the localization rule. However, the obligation of personal data operators to localize personal data of Russian citizens on the territory of Russia appeared in Federal Law No. 152 "On personal data" of July 27, 2006, almost five years ago.

The table below shows the new fines included in the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses (the "Code")

The Bill also sets high fines for repeated violation of certain provisions of Federal Law No. 149 "On information, information technologies and protection of information" of July 27, 2006 committed by:

  • Owners of organizers of information dissemination (e.g., social media, email services, cloud services) (up to RUB 6,000,000);
  • Messenger owners (up to RUB 2,000,000).
  • Search engine providers (up to RUB 5,000,000).
  • Owners of audiovisual services (up to RUB 5,000,000).

As the new fines relate to legal requirements that have been in effect for several years, the Bill does not postpone their effective date. Therefore, the Bill will enter into force from the date of its official publication.

After the third reading, the Bill must be adopted by the Federal Assembly and signed by the President of Russia. Considering how quickly the Bill passed through the State Duma hearings, it is highly likely to be signed soon.

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