UPDATE: Russian min says not only LinkedIn could disrespect data law

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MOSCOW, Oct 26 (PRIME) – Not only LinkedIn, but other foreign firms are likely to have broken the law obliging them to store Russians’ personal data in the country, Communications and Mass Media Minister Nikolai Nikiforov told reporters on Wednesday.

“The law came in force. Its fulfillment will be more often checked regardless of origin of a company. These could be Russian and foreign companies,” Nikiforov said.

The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media said on Tuesday that it went to court to block LinkedIn, a business and employment-oriented social network. Hearings will be held on November 10.

A LinkedIn spokesperson said earlier on Wednesday the network is contacting the communications service.

“At present, the date of a meeting to discuss the issue has not been arranged yet. Until then we cannot comment on the court process,” the spokesperson said.

The service said it had asked the network twice earlier in 2016 to notify the authority how it respected the law on 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.

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

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