Law on better personal data protection to take effect in RF

MOSCOW, July 27 (Itar-Tass) - The law toughening the requirements for
the protection of personal data is taking effect in Russia on Wednesday.
Amendments to the Law "On Personal Data" published today in the
Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper on Wednesday severely tighten requirements
for operators of databases. "The era of illegal business - trade in
databases with passport data of Russians, their phone number, car numbers,
as well as family status, property, income and medical history - seemingly
is ending in Russia," the newspaper said.
The new law gives citizens the right to demand compensation for moral
damage and damages in case of leakage of personal information. According
to an experts quoted by the publication, the new law will "directly
affects tens of thousands of Russian companies and organisations that
record the contact information of people in computer databases" - clinics
and medical centres, mobile operators, banks, insurance companies, pension
and investment funds, hotels and travel agencies.
The law requires from operators to set rules for access to personal
data, registration of all acts done with the information and recording all
cases of unauthorized access or restoring of lost information after a
hacker attack, according to Rossiiskaya Gazeta. Moreover, these operators
must evaluate the harm that can be caused to citizens. For the protection
of personal data appliances and programmes approved by the authorized
agencies - the Federal Security Service and the Federal Technical and
Export Control Service, which will monitor the implementation of new
requirements, must be used. Thus the operator will choose methods and
technologies to ensure personal data safety.
The Russian legislation imposes strict limitations on using of the
electronic means of communication for direct marketing. Namely, express
consent should be obtained from the individual before marketing
communications are sent to him by email or SMS. Lack of such prior consent
is presumed unless the sender proves the contrary. The law provides for
immediate cessation of sending marketing communications at the individual'
s short notice. It should be also noted that in Russia it is expressly
prohibited to send emails or SMS messages using autodial.