Moscow court fines companies for not localizing data storage • The Register

A Moscow court docket has fined Airbnb, Twitch, UPS, and Pinterest for not storing Russian consumer knowledge domestically, in accordance to Russian regulator Roskomnadzor.

The decision was handed down by the Tagansky District Court of Moscow immediately after the four overseas companies allegedly did not supply documents confirming that the storage and processing of Russian particular info was carried out solely in the region.

Twitch, Pinterest and Airbnb have been fined about $38,500 even though UPS received a great of roughly $19,200.

In accordance to point out-sponsored media TASS, in at minimum a person scenario – the a person involving Pinterest – company representatives did not even go to the listening to.

If the other corporations that had been fined failed to present, it could be due to the fact they’ve stop or minimal operations in Russia – as have Apple, Dell, HP, Intel, SAP, Microsoft, Nokia and Ericsson.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has not concealed his disdain for Big Tech, nor his willingness to place strain on foreign providers. The fines, hence, are of little surprise.

Russia’s Investigative Committee – the nation’s peak felony and anti-corruption investigation human body – labelled Meta an “extremist” group when it determined to take it easy principles about exhortations to commit violence on Fb and Instagram inside Ukraine.

Google, Meta, TikTok and Twitter have all been fined by Russian courts around both equally material and data issues due to the fact the unlawful invasion commenced.

Putin also issued sanctions on tech execs these types of as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, who are banned from coming into Russia indefinitely.

The actions are considered to be retaliation for Western sanctions and basic support of Ukraine as many private tech companies flee the area.

In late March, Russia banned overseas software program buys for crucial infrastructure, and in the exact same week legalized the import of solutions devoid of the authorization of the trademark holder. These “parallel imports” are supposed to near the gaps still left by merchandise lacking thanks to brand name protests.

So just so it is really obvious: Pirating is Alright. Violating Ukraine’s sovereignty utilizing tissue-thin lies is Ok. Most likely storing Russian consumer details outside the country is not Ok. ®