Russian Enacts Amendments to Data Privacy Laws

http://ow.ly/5R5k6

Posted on the Privacy and Information Security Law Blog, by Hunton & Williams, law firm.

Russia has been subject to several data breaches in recent months, hence they have have moved to alter data privacy rules.  The transfers of data are being limited to other EU states, or approved countries that can guarantee data protection.  

The article states, "The new rules allow personal data to be transferred outside of Russia to (1) EU member states, or (2) nations that are approved by a Russian federal agency authorized to designate countries that can guarantee adequate protection for personal data. In addition, personal data may be transferred with the prior written consent of data subjects, or if required by Russian federal legislation or international treaties."

The opinion of the writers of this blog is that this new regulation should also impact how eDiscovery matters involving ESI stored in Russia will be handled. However, as data continues to be moved to cloud computing, protections such as these may not have as broad of a reach as they are intended to have, as data belonging to Russian corporations that is stored in the cloud, may not receive the protections intended by this new enactment.