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The Ministry of Internal Affairs has prepared amendments to Russian legislation, giving its employees access to personal information of Russians, including correspondence, without a court order. Experts believe that if they are adopted, abuses will begin on the part of the security forces, and they claim that everything is done for the sake of the safety of citizens. Under the same sauce, two years earlier, amendments to the law “On Communications” were submitted, allowing people in uniform to demand from telecom operators data on the current location of subscribers.
The secret of personal correspondence with the past
Russian law enforcement agencies want to give themselves the right and opportunity to receive data from electronic devices of Russians before a court decision, that is, in fact, without one. This also applies to the personal correspondence of citizens, although, as you know, it is protected by the so-called "secret personal correspondence", the violation of which is Art. 138 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (MVD) is promptly preparing amendments to the current legislation in order to read correspondence before a court order no less quickly, Kommersant writes. Changes are planned to be made to the law “On Operational Investigative Activities” (ORA) of 1995, and this is important in the sense that if they are adopted, any information transmitted via the Internet will be equated with information necessary for conducting investigative measures.
In this case, the security forces will receive the keys to data centers, cloud storage, as well as data accumulated by mobile operators. The amendments prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs also mention “other electronic media”, but do not explain what exactly is meant by them.
Security over privacy
The opportunity given to themselves to quickly break into other people's storages and correspondence is explained by the security forces' concern for the safety of Russian citizens. While pushing their amendments, they emphasize that in Russia the number of crimes committed via the Internet is growing, and that many of them are committed through IP address spoofing services, that is, through VPNs. Why this clarification, the authors of the amendments do not specify.
Thus, if one of the Russians, for one reason or another, came to the attention of law enforcement agencies, and operational-search actions are being carried out against him, then all his correspondence will become an open book for people in uniform, and no court permission for them to do this. not needed at the start. And employees of not only the Ministry of Internal Affairs, that is, the police, but also the Federal Security Service (FSB) can conduct an operational search.
According to the interlocutors of the edition from the legal industry, the changes will give law enforcement agencies the opportunity to immediately begin the investigation, without waiting for the permission of the court. It will be required in any case, but it will be possible to get it after the fact, Artem Yablokov, partner of the Yablokov Brothers law firm, told Kommersant.
What will be hacked and how to protect yourself
The new amendments do not imply forcible taking from Russians, for example, of their smartphones or laptops, if there is no order to conduct a search or body search. But the security forces will still be able to remotely access the personal gadgets of individuals, Igor Bederov, head of the Internet Search company, told the publication. According to him, the same will apply to data accumulated by wired Internet providers and mobile operators. “The traffic also falls under the scope of the project: the history of access to the network, data transmitted through messengers, work with external cloud services, etc.,” he added.
It is still impossible to guess how exactly the Russians can protect their information from the close attention of the security forces, who want to study it without a court order. Probably the most reliable way would be to delete all information from the clouds and the memory of devices capable of connecting to the Internet, before the adoption of new amendments, and store it on local devices in encrypted archives with unguessed passwords.
When Surveillance Law Is Not Enough
The amendments to the law on ORD prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs are the second wide step taken by the security forces towards total surveillance of Russians in recent years. The first amendments were also made, but to the law “On Communications”, changing the article “Secret Communications”, prepared by the Ministry of Digital Development in February 2021 and adopted only four months later. They allow investigators to receive information from telecom operators about the current location of subscribers as part of operational search activities.
In addition, according to the text of the law, information on the volume and cost of services provided by telecom operators is now also available to the security forces without a warrant. This will probably mean information about call directions.
The authorities argued the adoption of these changes by another concern for the safety of citizens, presenting this as a means to simplify the search for missing people.
Interlocutors of the publication in the legal industry believe that the new indulgence for the security forces in terms of the procedure for gaining access to information is "fraught with abuse" by representatives of law enforcement agencies. In the IT sector, the innovation is considered redundant - the CEO of the RuVDS provider Nikita Tsaplin reminded the publication that even now the security forces have access to user data thanks to TSPU devices (technical means of countering threats) and SORM (operational search activities system). The current legislation obliges telecom operators to integrate this hardware into their infrastructure.
The secret of personal correspondence with the past
Russian law enforcement agencies want to give themselves the right and opportunity to receive data from electronic devices of Russians before a court decision, that is, in fact, without one. This also applies to the personal correspondence of citizens, although, as you know, it is protected by the so-called "secret personal correspondence", the violation of which is Art. 138 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (MVD) is promptly preparing amendments to the current legislation in order to read correspondence before a court order no less quickly, Kommersant writes. Changes are planned to be made to the law “On Operational Investigative Activities” (ORA) of 1995, and this is important in the sense that if they are adopted, any information transmitted via the Internet will be equated with information necessary for conducting investigative measures.
In this case, the security forces will receive the keys to data centers, cloud storage, as well as data accumulated by mobile operators. The amendments prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs also mention “other electronic media”, but do not explain what exactly is meant by them.
Security over privacy
The opportunity given to themselves to quickly break into other people's storages and correspondence is explained by the security forces' concern for the safety of Russian citizens. While pushing their amendments, they emphasize that in Russia the number of crimes committed via the Internet is growing, and that many of them are committed through IP address spoofing services, that is, through VPNs. Why this clarification, the authors of the amendments do not specify.
Thus, if one of the Russians, for one reason or another, came to the attention of law enforcement agencies, and operational-search actions are being carried out against him, then all his correspondence will become an open book for people in uniform, and no court permission for them to do this. not needed at the start. And employees of not only the Ministry of Internal Affairs, that is, the police, but also the Federal Security Service (FSB) can conduct an operational search.
According to the interlocutors of the edition from the legal industry, the changes will give law enforcement agencies the opportunity to immediately begin the investigation, without waiting for the permission of the court. It will be required in any case, but it will be possible to get it after the fact, Artem Yablokov, partner of the Yablokov Brothers law firm, told Kommersant.
What will be hacked and how to protect yourself
The new amendments do not imply forcible taking from Russians, for example, of their smartphones or laptops, if there is no order to conduct a search or body search. But the security forces will still be able to remotely access the personal gadgets of individuals, Igor Bederov, head of the Internet Search company, told the publication. According to him, the same will apply to data accumulated by wired Internet providers and mobile operators. “The traffic also falls under the scope of the project: the history of access to the network, data transmitted through messengers, work with external cloud services, etc.,” he added.
It is still impossible to guess how exactly the Russians can protect their information from the close attention of the security forces, who want to study it without a court order. Probably the most reliable way would be to delete all information from the clouds and the memory of devices capable of connecting to the Internet, before the adoption of new amendments, and store it on local devices in encrypted archives with unguessed passwords.
When Surveillance Law Is Not Enough
The amendments to the law on ORD prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs are the second wide step taken by the security forces towards total surveillance of Russians in recent years. The first amendments were also made, but to the law “On Communications”, changing the article “Secret Communications”, prepared by the Ministry of Digital Development in February 2021 and adopted only four months later. They allow investigators to receive information from telecom operators about the current location of subscribers as part of operational search activities.
In addition, according to the text of the law, information on the volume and cost of services provided by telecom operators is now also available to the security forces without a warrant. This will probably mean information about call directions.
The authorities argued the adoption of these changes by another concern for the safety of citizens, presenting this as a means to simplify the search for missing people.
Interlocutors of the publication in the legal industry believe that the new indulgence for the security forces in terms of the procedure for gaining access to information is "fraught with abuse" by representatives of law enforcement agencies. In the IT sector, the innovation is considered redundant - the CEO of the RuVDS provider Nikita Tsaplin reminded the publication that even now the security forces have access to user data thanks to TSPU devices (technical means of countering threats) and SORM (operational search activities system). The current legislation obliges telecom operators to integrate this hardware into their infrastructure.
