The Russian Banking Association (ADB) did not support the bill that would give law enforcement agencies direct access to banks’ information systems and databases containing customer data. RBC writes this with reference to a letter sent to the Ministry of Digital Development of the ADB and the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications Alexander Khinshtein.
As stated in the association’s objection, this bill “gives rise to numerous legal conflicts” and conflicts with other laws. The letter states that adoption of this document could lead to a violation of Russians’ constitutional rights by providing intelligence services with unrestricted access to personal data.
“Banks will have to provide access to personal data without the customer’s consent and court order,” the objection states.
According to anti-money laundering legislation, banks are required to provide data on customer transactions at the request of Rosfinmonitoring. ADB points out that it is not clear how this would be possible if intelligence agencies independently changed or deleted information about their employees without notifying credit agencies.
Bankers also said that unrestricted and uncontrolled access of intelligence services could pose a risk to information security, as it would disrupt the functioning of databases and information could be transferred to third parties. It can also lead to technological risks. For example, if the information required for the functioning of the processes is changed incorrectly, banks may not be able to fulfill their obligations to customers.
Before reportedHe said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is developing amendments to the law “On Operational Investigative Activities”, which makes it possible to synchronize any information transmitted via the Internet with the data necessary for investigative actions.