Jun 29, 2022 13:00:00

Russia fines Twitch, Pinterest, Airbnb, UPS for not storing data in Russia

Four companies,

Twitch , a live distribution platform dedicated to games, Pinterest , a photo sharing service, Airbnb , a vacation rental platform, and United Parcel Service (UPS), an international transportation service, store personal information of Russian users on servers in Russia. It was revealed that a court in Moscow had fined him for refusing to do so.

Russia fines foreign firms for alleged data storage violations | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-fines-streaming-company-twitch-over-data-storage-2022-06-28/

Russia Fines Western Tech Companies Over Data Storage | PCMag
https://www.pcmag.com/news/russia-fines-western-tech-companies-over-data-storage

According to a Russian news agency, Russia's Tagansky District Court violates Russian law that 'personal information of Russian citizens must be stored on a data server in Russia', 2 million each to Twitch, Pinterest and Airbnb. A fine of 1 million rubles (about 2.5 million yen) was imposed on the ruble (about 5 million yen) and UPS.

A UPS spokeswoman said in response to the report, 'We are continuing to consider the court's decision. We cannot provide any further information at this time,' admitting that he was fined. Cannot be explained. Please note that other Twitch, Pinterest and Airbnb do not respond to requests for comment.

In late May 2022, the

Russian Federation's telecommunications regulator, the Federal Service for Supervision in Communications, Information Technology and the Media , filed an administrative litigation against Apple, a major American high-tech company. According to the Federal Service for Supervision in Communications, Information Technology and the Media, the first fines imposed on businesses will be around 1 to 6 million rubles (about 2.5 million to 15 million yen).

Russia fined Google's parent company Alphabet for the first time in 2021 for 3 million rubles. After that, Google was fined in May 2022, which is the same law that Twitch et al. Violated this time, 'Personal information of Russian citizens must be stored in a data server in Russia'. It is allegedly due to a violation. However, the fine imposed on Google in May 2022 has been significantly increased to 15 million rubles (about 37 million yen).

Google's Russian subsidiary was reported to have filed for bankruptcy following the seizure of a bank account by government authorities, making it impossible to pay employees and vendors. However, the Russian government is reportedly trying to impose another fine on content handled by Google, which could lead to even higher fines.

Separately, a Russian court has fined Canada-based social network service Wattpad for 1 million rubles for not removing content that is illegal in the country.