How to register on Russian sites without Gmail and Yahoo? The new bill proposes four ways

The State Duma will consider in the second reading a bill that provides for a number of restrictions for Russian sites related to user registration and the provision of hosting services. The bill was drafted by United Russia MP Anton Gorelkin and supported by the Information Policy Committee headed by Alexander Khinshtein (also United Russia).

The amendments concern the procedure for registering on Russian sites, if there is a registration option there. According to Gorelkin, users will be able to register in only four ways: by the phone number of a Russian telecom operator, through the Gosuslug portal, through the Unified Biometric System, or using another information system that provides authorization for website users and is owned by a citizen of the Russian Federation who does not have citizenship of another state, or a Russian legal entity with foreign ownership of less than 50%.

“Another information system” refers to Russian services, such as Vkontakte, or mail on Russian services, such as mail.ru, Khinshtein explained to Vedomosti. Registration using e-mail addresses of foreign services will be prohibited.

Gorelkin explained Vedomosti that the purpose of the amendments is to limit the use of foreign systems that provide such authorization for authorization of Russian users on information resources owned by Russian citizens and organizations. Authorization can be carried out by e-mail, but it must be Russian mail.

He added that this legislative novel was discussed with business. Sanctions for violators are not yet provided, but may be introduced later.

It is not clear which sites these requirements will apply to: news aggregators (which includes the Vkontakte social network, Rambler and Zen news aggregators), information dissemination organizers (ORI), or any others.

Lawyers believe that this may apply to any site owners who are engaged in user authorization. They also note that in some cases the requirement to provide a phone number or access to the “State Services” may be redundant in terms of the processing of personal data. In their opinion, the mandatory identification of the user should be introduced for its purposes, and not for the presence of authorization functions on the site.

The amendments also provide for the maintenance of a new register of hosting providers, that is, companies that provide space for hosting sites on their servers.

“In order to be included in the register, a hosting provider will have to send a notice to Roskomnadzor, in accordance with the procedure established by the Russian government, about the start of the hosting provider’s activities,” Gorelkin explained to Vedomosti. Registration in the registry will be required.

At Gorelkin’s suggestion, Roskomnadzor will maintain a register of hosting providers, which will only be available to Russian companies with less than 50% foreign ownership, with servers located in Russia, and providing access for government agencies to conduct operational-search activities. The draft law states that the RKN has the right to involve a legal entity registered in Russia in the formation and maintenance of the register. What kind of organization this could be is not specified.

Hosting will be able to provide its services only to persons who have passed the authentication procedure. Operators of state information systems (GIS) will be able to use the capacities of only hosting providers from the register.