Russia: New data law designed to protect citizens, affirms Roskomnadzor head

The head of Russia's Roskomnadzor media watchdog Alexander Zharov stated that new laws have been designed to protect Russians rather than spy on them at the 2015 Personal Data Protection conference in Moscow, Tuesday. Speaking at the forum organised by Roskomnadzor, Zharov said companies like Facebook or Twitter would be banned from storing Russians' personal information outside of Russia without the permission of the individuals concerned. Amendments adopted in September were "motivated by the interests of citizens rather than willingness to spy on them" and would see personal information stored inside the country. According to Zharov, that means only the individual concerned "can decide whether the personal data can be transferred abroad or not." A 2006 law was supplemented in September by a new requirement stating that data operators must use Russians' personal data from inside the country alone.