Russian internet providers blocked access to the LinkedIn professional networking site on Thursday, following an order from the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor).
Roskomnadzor did so because of LinkedIn’s failure to comply with Russian law on the localization of personal data storage. The law, which came into force in September 2015, requires companies to store the personal details of their Russian users in Russia.
On Thursday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the government does not plan to interfere in Roskomnadzor’s decision, and dismissed the idea that the decision could be interpreted as a form of censorship.
“The Russian agency is acting in strict accordance with the law and demands compliance with laws and regulations from relevant companies,” Peskov told reporters, RIA Novosti reported.
On August 4 a court in Moscow ruled in favor of Roskomnadzor after the regulator brought its case before the court, arguing that LinkedIn had processed the data of third parties without their consent. This particularly concerns unregistered visitors to LinkedIn, who have not made any data agreement with the company.
The regulator also said that LinkedIn had failed to provide the necessary information on the localization of its data servers in Russia.
Roskomnadzor eventually ordered internet providers to block LinkedIn after the company lost its appeal case on November 10. LinkedIn unsuccessfully argued that the subject of the first court case should not have been US-based LinkedIn, but LinkedIn Ireland Inc, which stores the personal data of non-US users. In addition, LinkedIn argued that it does not violate the rights of users with have voluntarily provided it with data. The company also argued that Russian legislative norms should not be extended to foreign legal entities who aren’t based in the jurisdiction of Russia.
However, according to Roskomnadzor and the court verdict, the processing of personal data belonging to Russians living in Russia must comply with Russian legislation.
Source: Sputnik
