Vigilant concern for the biometrics of citizens

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Irina Yarovaya told reporters about the submission to the State Duma of a bill on the protection of biometric personal data of citizens.

The document appeared in the legislative base of the ASOZD on May 4 under the number 353266-8 with the title “On Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.”

It was signed by heavyweight deputies of all five factions of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, Irina Yarovaya, Vladimir Vasiliev, Gennady Zyuganov, Leonid Slutsky, Sergei Mironov, Alexei Nechaev, Ivan Melnikov, Alexander Babakov, Vladislav Davankov, Yaroslav Nilov. The State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation, chaired by Pavel Krasheninnikov, has been appointed as the profile one.

The bill is supported by the government, the Ministry of Justice, the FSB and other departments.

Irina Yarovaya explained that the problem of protecting the biometric data of citizens was discussed within the framework of the inter-factional group on the protection of personal data of citizens of the Russian Federation, created on behalf of the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin. The group was headed by Yarovaya. The working group included representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Russia, the Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, Roskomnadzor and the Bank of Russia. The FSB is not on the list.

As a result of the discussion, Yarovaya prepared a draft law on administrative liability for violations in the use of citizens’ biometric data.

“The bill is aimed at increasing the level of protection and security of biometric personal data of citizens, as well as ensuring the prevention of relevant offenses,” said Irina Yarovaya.

According to the text of the bill, for the placement of biometric personal data of citizens in violation of the established requirements, a fine is provided for officials – from one hundred to three hundred thousand rubles, for organizations – from three hundred to seven hundred thousand rubles. For a repeated violation, the maximum fine for officials will be up to five hundred thousand rubles, for individual entrepreneurs – up to a million, for legal entities – up to one and a half million rubles.

In addition, it is proposed to increase the already existing fines for illegal processing of biometric personal data. The explanatory note to the bill notes that it is proposed to increase the already existing liability for the illegal processing of personal data, both for the initial and repeated commission of such administrative offenses.

The authors of the bill believe that its adoption will increase the level of protection and security of biometric personal data of citizens, provide additional conditions for the prevention of relevant offenses.

Thus, the increase in fines for the illegal placement of biometric personal data strengthens the base of the law 572-FZ of December 29, 2022 (211535-8 in ASOOZD) “On the identification and (or) authentication of individuals using biometric personal data, on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation and the invalidation of certain provisions of the legislative acts of the Russian Federation”.

Deputy Anton Gorelkin signed the bill to introduce it. It is clear that one deputy could not develop such a voluminous, complex and controversial bill. The annotation to the bill states that the government, in agreement with the FSB, is empowered to approve the provisions on the unified biometric system, including the procedure for its functioning and the functioning of its regional segments, as well as to determine the composition of the information placed in the unified biometric system and its regional segments, including the type biometric personal data, information about the method of placement, including information about government agencies and organizations that posted such information.

Presenting the law for the adoption of the Federation Council on December 23, Andriy Klishas, ​​chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, said: “The law contains a complete and closed list of types of biometric personal data that can be placed in a single biometric system – this is a face image and voice recording. Providing citizens with their biometric data will be voluntary, it is possible to refuse the collection and placement of biometric data at the MFC, and any form of discrimination against those who refuse to submit biometrics is prohibited. The use of these children is possible only with the consent of their legal representatives. Storage of biometric data is allowed only on the territory of the Russian Federation.

End of quote.

Discussions in the chambers of parliament were stormy with a noticeable amount of alarmism about the digital Gulag. The background has a long tail of the struggle of the secret services for a monopoly on personal data. The fight has been given a global reach, connecting with the feelings of believers and reflected in a series of intriguing detective stories, mostly in English. The goal was not just a monopoly, but a shady and irresponsible monopoly.

As a result, a number of countries of the world with a developed financial and economic system have taken the path of creating unified biometric data centers. In the US, this was not possible.

In Russia, they realized it when various structures, in their interests, covered half of the country’s population with their bases.

After the vote in the Duma, the offended author Anton Gorelkin asked to check the statements of the deputy Mikhail Delyagin. He announced a leak from the state EPGU system. In Gorelkin’s opinion, this is a deliberate misrepresentation.

Delyagin was sincerely surprised by this turn of the discussion: “I am now ready to provide my colleague Gorelkin or the ethics commission with a letter that I received through the State Services portal right now, I have it scanned, I can now go up to him and show him. Or ethics committees, no questions asked.”

End of quote.

In reality, the introduced bill with an increase in fines will not stop fraud by itself. This requires the work of law enforcement agencies based on the political will of the country’s leadership. There are technical possibilities, for example, to record a person’s answers on the phone and construct any order from them. What it is used for, I don’t know. But there have been attempts.

I do not know what is more in the legislative canvas of digital history, tragedy or comedy. The country, starting with the decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, for decades followed the US propaganda of the type “Punch cards control the Kremlin” against the cybernetics of Viktor Glushkov. Then it suddenly turned out that the Kremlin was controlled from across the ocean. But even after that nothing could be done either by the administrators or the governed. When events went like a storm and there was no time left, galloping digitalization was launched, according to the expression of the algebraist-lawyer Igor Ashmanov. They made a law on a single center for biometrics and gave it to sign the trouble-free United Russia Gorelkin. Four months later, they introduced an increase in fines and filed it as a consolidated initiative to protect citizens.

Where all this will lead is not very clear. Perhaps the problems of fraud will be relegated to the background of the digital ruble. Depends on the direction of development of the financial and economic system.

Lev Moskovkin.

Photo by Olga Davydova.