Digital platforms do not want to transfer non-stored data to EBS

The working group for the development of the national project “Data Economy” until 2030 proposed eliminating the need to transfer biometrics collected by businesses as part of anti-fraud activities to the Unified Biometric System (UBS). Now many digital services are fighting fraudsters through identity verification by photo or voice, and by law this data must be transferred to the EBS. Companies consider this inappropriate, since they do not store such data and collect it in a free format, and not according to EBS standards.

Participants in the “Information Security” working group at ANO “Digital Economy” (ANO CE), discussing the national project on the data economy until 2030, proposed adding an exception to the law on the Unified Biometric System, according to which companies using anti-theft mechanisms in their work (anti-fraud ) using biometrics, will not have to submit it to the EBS (the operator is JSC Center for Biometric Technologies; 49% – from Rostelecom, 26% – from the Federal Agency for State Property Management and 25% – from the Central Bank). This follows from the presentation of the ANO, which Kommersant got acquainted with.

As Kommersant’s interlocutor, familiar with the details of the proposal, explains, many digital platforms now use user identification, for example, by photo or voice, to confirm identity when providing services – “this can be car sharing, classified services and other platforms.” According to current legislation, he clarifies, the photo is classified as biometrics, which means it must be transferred to the EBS. However, the interlocutor continues, the photos collected by the platforms for their own purposes do not meet the requirements for photo-digital casts that must be transferred to the EBS. “Connecting to the EBS and converting digital photos into the required format will require costs from companies; it will be easier for them to refuse to use the technology,” he says.

The working group participants propose to include anti-fraud in the list of activities during which biometric data is collected without mandatory transfer to the EBS. At the moment, the collection of biometrics, which does not even involve storing data, which is carried out by companies for one-time identification of clients, without transferring data to the EBS turns out to be illegal, clarifies Kommersant’s interlocutor in the IT market.

ANO TsE told Kommersant that they are “collecting opinions and proposals on the topic of the data economy.” The Big Data Association (which unites Yandex, VK, Rostelecom, etc.), which is participating in the development of the initiative, clarified that photographs or voice recordings received by companies for verification are often stored for a short time and are not used in other processes. “Such procedures have proven their effectiveness: for example, statistics show that they help protect about 3 billion rubles monthly. funds of Russian citizens, and at classified sites, cases of fraud have decreased by 90%,” the association says. But the use of EBS for these purposes is impossible due to technical, legal and financial restrictions, according to the ABD. The Center for Biometric Technologies stated that they do not consider it advisable to make changes to 572-FZ regarding anti-fraud procedures. The Ministry of Digital Development did not answer Kommersant.

At the beginning of October, ABD representative Mikhail Bykovsky stated at a seminar-meeting in the Federation Council that EBS should perform authentication and identification functions only when performing legally significant actions: concluding an agreement, issuing a loan, opening a current account. In the banking sector, where biometrics have been introduced since 2018, they consider the service “necessary”, but admit that “the population does not want to use biometrics because they are afraid of data leakage or falsification,” says Kommersant’s interlocutor in one of the financial organizations. At the same time, he adds, the business effect of the technology is currently not commensurate with the costs.

Tatiana Isakova, Yulia Poslavskaya