Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

As reported in BNA’s Privacy Law Watch, on July 25, 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a new federal law amending Russia’s personal data privacy law, “On Personal Data.” The amended law, which was made public on July 27 and is effective retroactively from July 1, 2011, imposes new rules on international data transfers. As we previously reported, and as noted by the BNA, Russia had been considering improving its data protection regime and has enacted two other laws regarding the protection of personal data in the past several weeks.

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 BNA reports that these latest amendments coincide with a recent series of “unprecedented” data breaches in Russia, and the launch of an investigation into potential violations of data protection law by a Russian government agency.