The authorities will “clean up” the Internet in the very near future!

Government structures threaten the privacy and security of users on the Internet.

On June 6, information appeared in the media that smart people will take a closer look at social networks and the Internet in the fall. ( Link ). Similar measures are being taken in neighboring countries; in Ukraine (June 14), the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Vitaly Zakharchenko, introduced an initiative to the Cabinet of Ministers to “regulate” the possibility of access to information on the Internet. They went even further and suggested: “In my opinion, and in general, there is a lot of different information on the Internet, to which part of the population, for example teenagers, would not have the opportunity to access at all. These relations (on the Internet – ed.) are not completely, fully regulated by law,” the minister said. ( Link ) It looks like law enforcement officers in Eastern European countries are following the steps of the Republic of Belarus, where they have long learned how to punish for speaking on the Internet! There is someone to look up to! Read also Censorship in Belarus in material from Wikipedia .

Now, following fines for violations at rallies and the possibility of holding users accountable for calling for participation in mass actions, total state regulation of the Runet may be introduced. EdRoss deputy Sergei Zheleznyak proposed a mechanism by which law enforcement agencies would be able to monitor “illegal messages” on the Internet - the amendments will be considered in the fall; many bloggers believe that “Internet censorship” will be selectively directed against objectionable opinions.

Apparently, the Russian authorities will carry out a global cleanup of the network and this will happen in several stages, so that citizens do not have time to come to their senses and take countermeasures. All their actions are aimed at complete control!

1. The authorities want to introduce mandatory identification and responsibility of users for posted materials; this only means the abolition of anonymity on the Internet!

2. The obligation of providers to limit access to certain materials, giving one of the power structures functions to actually determine “what is possible and what is not”!

3. Also, only duly registered resources and networks will be able to provide services on the territory of the Russian Federation and in its domain zone, which in turn will “physically” link suppliers of goods and services to the Russian Federation, even on the Internet.

In other words, all this together means the nationalization of the Russian segment of the global network and the transfer of control over it to the authorities!

Let's try to figure it out - can we trust our personal data to numerous online services? What threats do modern technologies pose? How and why is it important to counter such threats as government regulation of Internet activities and whether this may call into question the privacy of users?

Let's remember the high-profile story with the leak of personal data of MTBank clients? Almost a year ago, on August 10, 2011, a database of applicants for loans and opening cards in the large Belarusian commercial MTBank appeared on the Internet. More than 5,000 questionnaires contained applicants' names, addresses, mobile phone numbers, and in some cases information about their vehicles being offered as collateral and their market value.

All this information may be classified as personal and private information. Any leak of such information ultimately results in financial losses for the organization that allowed it, as well as significant damage to the rights and interests of citizens. Why do such incidents happen?

Threats to “digitized” life!

The story of the MTBank information leak is just one of many cases of improper handling of personal data and violation of the right to privacy. Due to the introduction of new technologies, including automation of the process of collecting personal data, new threats to the exercise of this right have emerged. The Internet itself has turned into a global database, a system for collecting, searching and distributing information, including personal data. This phenomenon requires close attention from the professional community, a competent legislative approach from the state, as well as compliance with the necessary precautions on the part of Internet users.

Personal life is the sphere of individual activity and no state has the moral right to interfere and violate it if this state recognizes itself as a legal state.

Let's define the basic concepts. In this area, lawyers use the following terms:

• information about private (personal) life

• personal data

In a broad sense, personal life is an area of ​​personal activity that is not public and is not subject to public disclosure. It is protected by the right to privacy, enshrined in a number of international legal instruments (Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 8(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights and fundamental freedoms), as well as still guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The right to privacy includes:

• the right to protection of personal data;

• the right to protection of honor and good name;

• the right to privacy of correspondence, telephone and other messages (secrecy of communications);

• right to inviolability of home;

• the right to anonymity (according to some experts).

The implementation of the right to privacy is largely carried out through the protection of personal data.

Currently, in accordance with generally accepted practice, personal data is understood as any information relating to a specific person (personal data subject) or determined (directly or indirectly) on the basis of such information.

This is the definition used in both the Russian Federation and the European Union. Its source is considered to be the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data.

In literature and legal documents, synonyms for “personal data” can be used such as “private information”, “personal information”, “private records of citizens” or “information about the private life of citizens” (personal date, personal information), etc.

Personal data may include surname, first name, patronymic, year, month, date and place of birth, address, telephone number, passport and social security card numbers, information about family, social, property status, education, profession, income, information about health status, religion and political beliefs. The list is not exhaustive, the only condition is that such information allows you to identify the person to whom it relates.

Why do leaks happen and will happen in the future?

Information in the digital age is of great value. Especially if it is personal data of individuals. Possessing information (for example, information about potential customers, their earnings, preferences) provides significant competitive advantages.

With the advent of the Internet, the volume of circulating information, including personal data, has increased significantly, and therefore the following problems are especially relevant today:

- collection of personal data without the consent of users;

- leakage of personal data during their voluntary transfer to third parties;

It is always worth remembering that your personal data can be collected without your knowledge or consent!

When making purchases in a real store with cash, we can remain anonymous. When paying by bank card, we can no longer remain anonymous. But we leave the maximum amount of information about ourselves when shopping online: even with a basic visit to the site and filling out an order form, traces of our visit, including information about purchases made, can be automatically collected and stored.

Information tied to a specific IP address (unless, of course, proxies and anonymizers are used, all users should take these tools into service!) can reveal our consumer preferences, financial well-being, hobbies, hobbies, health status and other, more sensitive " information. It is on this principle that contextual advertising is structured: we receive certain advertising offers based on the traces we left on the Internet: queries entered into search engines, sites where we entered our personal data.

Such information can be purposefully collected and analyzed in order to compile customer databases, which are subsequently resold to interested parties, or appear in the public domain on the Internet, as in the case of databases of telecom operators and providers.

Internet hygiene

Very often, when ordering a product or service online, we need to fill out numerous forms and questionnaires where we enter our personal data. Sometimes the seller is limited to a name and email address, but often we leave our phone number, address and even bank card information. When filling out these information fields, it is worth remembering: even in the case of lawful collection of information, when it is carried out with our consent, guarantees for the proper preservation of this data, as practice shows, are not always respected.

Most often, Internet users leave information about themselves “voluntarily” and in large quantities: first of all, on numerous social networks and on forums. The behavior model of a modern Internet user involves the constant posting and updating of personal data: photographs, videos, information about the place of study and work, and the current location of the user. It is worth realizing that in this way a person can cause damage to himself, and information of this kind can be used by attackers.

Personal data, once published on the Internet, is very difficult to control. The experience of an Austrian law student is illustrative. Having asked the social network Facebook for all the information about himself, he found out: his numerous personal data are stored on FB servers, including photos and messages that he had previously deleted.

That is, Internet services store much more information about us than we sometimes realize. The question of how such information is used, why and for how long companies store it remains open.

What to do?!

The above problems can be resolved both by legal protection instruments and by increasing user attention to the problem of personal data protection. As for legislative regulation, in order to implement the right to privacy, requirements are established for the protection of personal data and guarantees of their confidentiality. Such requirements must be clear and understandable to all entities, comply with international standards and ensure an adequate level of protection of personal data and the exercise of the right to privacy.

It is imperative that citizens carefully monitor government regulation and unquestioning compliance with legislative requirements in the field of personal data protection. But can we trust the decisions made today by the uncontrolled government and government agencies subordinate to it, if they are increasingly tightening legislative acts in the field of Internet censorship?!