Russia may delay implementing a strict new surveillance law for five years.
The new measures, which were introduced
last year as part of controversial new anti-terror legislation, were
due to come into force in 2018.
But officials are now considering pushing
the amendments back to 2023 in order to give struggling Russian firms
more time to invest in the technology needed to comply with the
legislation, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper reported Tuesday.
The new law, authored by ultraconservative United Russia lawmaker Irina Yarovaya, will require
mobile operators to store customers’ messages, including photos and
videos, for six months. Internet companies will also face a fine of
up to 1 million rubles ($15,700) for not decoding users’ data at
the request of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
While telecoms firms are lobbying the government to delay the law, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) hopes to push forward the Kremlin’s existing timetable, Vedomosti reported.
