Leonid Volkov published correspondence between the E center and VKontakte: the social network provided the police with data about activists of Navalny’s headquarters in Ufa

The former head of the campaign headquarters of Alexei Navalny, Leonid Volkov, tweeted a request from the Bashkir center "E" to the security service "VKontakte" about the pages of the headquarters activists in Ufa, as well as a response from the social network with information about users.

The request was sent on January 18, 2018 "in connection with the ongoing audit." The police asked for information about the personal pages of the activists, as well as the pages of the headquarters and the planned action in late January in support of the "Voters' Strike". Judging by the materials on Volkov’s Twitter, VKontakte provided in response all the information that the police were interested in, including the phone numbers of the activists and the IP addresses from which they accessed the pages.

Volkov did not explain the origin of these materials. By the time the news was published, he had not responded to Meduza's request.

Updated : The VKontakte press service reported that the social network is required by law to provide law enforcement agencies with the necessary information, regardless of whether a criminal case has been initiated or not. The company noted that they always require requests to come through official channels.

• VKontakte is criticized for handing over data about users to the police and intelligence agencies, which are then used for their criminal prosecution, including for reposts. The social network says that it acts in accordance with the laws, but called for changing the law and amnesty for those convicted of reposting.