LinkedIn wants to discuss data localization with Russian service

MOSCOW, Nov 11 (PRIME) -- LinkedIn, a U.S. business and employment-oriented social network, whose blocking in Russia was backed up by the Moscow City Court for the failure to localize personal data, wants to discuss the problem with the communications service, a LinkedIn spokesperson, said late on Thursday.

“We still want to meet with the communications service to discuss their request of data localization,” the spokesperson said.

The company said earlier it is in contact with the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media, but the authority denied any talks.

The service said in October that it had asked the network twice to notify the authority on how it respected the law on localization of personal data, but did not get any clear response. The law obliges Internet companies to store personal data of citizens on the country’s territory. Web sites of perpetrators are included in a special register and can be later blocked.

The authority went to a lower Moscow court in August, which backed up the service. LinkedIn appealed against the move, and the Moscow City Court sided with the lower court on Thursday.

The service’s press secretary Vadim Ampelonsky said LinkedIn has not sent an official request to the author to discuss data localization since the court voiced its decision.

LinkedIn had more than 400 million users worldwide as of the end of 2015, including 5 million in Russia.

End