In Snowden's Wake, Duma Takes Up Russia's Online Vulnerability (Kommersant, Russia)
"Even before Snowden's revelations, Russian authorities berated
Internet firms for cooperating with the American intelligence services. For
example, two years ago, FSB Information and Special Communications Chief
Alexander Andreechkin called for a ban on Gmail and
Skype. 'The issue of applying widely used, primarily foreign-made encoded
cryptographic services on communications networks is of greater and greater
concern to the FSB ... Unregulated use of such services may pose a large-scale
threat to Russia's security,' Andreechkin said."
Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, Edward Snowden's advocate, carries a bag containing books on Russian history and literature for his client, who may be settling in for a long or perhaps permanent stay in Russia, July 24.
Edward Snowden's
attack on Google, Microsoft and other American Internet companies working with
the intelligence services has found a welcome audience in Russia. Not just in
government but Russia's IT sector.
After
accusing his own government of violating the rights and freedoms of its
citizens, American dissident Edward Snowden attempted to flee to liberated
South America. He didn't make it. As a result, he's been forced to hide out
here in free Russia. Last week, lawyer Anatoly Kucherena,
who has become Snowden's virtual guardian, vowed that the former security
services employee would receive temporary asylum for several days.
The
Duma, which considers Snowden's extradition "morally
unacceptable," discussed ways of protecting Russians from the all-hearing
ears of the U.S. intelligence services. There was a meeting of the Federal
Council Information Policy Commission, attended by representatives of telecommunications
companies VimpelCom,
MegaFon,
MTS, and Rostelecom.
Prior to hosting the conference, head of the Commission, Senator RuslanGattarov, petitioned the
Prosecutor General's Office to open an investigation into Google: Allegedly,
its "user agreement allows personal data to be transmitted to Google's
service center, which violates the constitutional and inalienable right to privacy."
Another senator explained that "one cannot entirely remove all personal
data from this service."
Operators
told the senator that "security costs are growing year on year, amounting
to hundreds of millions of rubles." Anna Serebryanikova,
director of legal affairs and government relations at MegaFon,
assured Senator Gattarov that Russian operators
refuse even to cooperate with Interpol.
MTS Economic Security Chief Pavel
Litvinov advised that the relevant state regulatory bodies had never found an
operator to have violated Russian laws on protecting personal data, but that
even so, operators cannot promise 100 percent protection. Dmitry Kononov, VimpelCom's head of government
relations, called into question the security of conversations conducted by
international roaming; and Anna Serebryanikova
pointed out that the Russian legal system is incapable of regulating services
like Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp.
Even
before Snowden's revelations, Russian authorities berated Internet firms for cooperating
with the American intelligence services. For example, two years ago, FSB Information
and Special Communications Chief Alexander Andreechkin
called for a ban on Gmail and Skype. [FSB stands for the Federal Security
Service, which is successor to the KGB].
"The
issue of applying widely used, primarily foreign-made encoded cryptographic services
on communications networks is of greater and greater concern to the FSB,"
he reported at a meeting of the Government Commission on Federal Communications
and Technological Informatization Issues. "Unregulated
use of such services may pose a large-scale threat to Russia's security."
It
isn't only Russian operators that are angered by Skype and other Internet phone
services (VoIP) and Internet messengers. With the enhanced standards of
cellular communications and the progress of smartphones,
in terms of bandwidth, data transfers have overtaken voice traffic, which was
the original function of mobile communications. The proportion of mobile
Internet and voice services in developing countries account for 80 percent and
20 percent of general traffic, respectively. Perhaps at some point, mobile
operators will stop offering voice services altogether - to be replaced by VoIP.
It is already possible to make calls almost free of charge from any point on
the planet via 3G through Skype and Viber. It isn't surprising
that since the end of the 2000s, operators in the U.S. and Europe have been
experimenting with ways of blocking VoIP traffic. But up to now, the issue has
been free of political overtones.
There
is no less irony in the fact that Edward Snowden's fight for freedom has led him
to seek asylum in countries far removed from his ideals. The intrusion of the intelligence
services into their private lives is perhaps shocking to the people of America
and Europe, but Russians are quite used to this sort of thing. The law on protecting personal
data hasn't stood in the way of systematic leaks to the tabloid press and blogosphere.
