‘Our company is expanding its foreign economic activity, contracts with companies from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan are multiplying...
The volume of communications and correspondence is also growing. Could you clarify how the legislation of the EAEU countries protects our personal data?’
The question is answered by Lyudmila Podosinnikova, leading lawyer of the Bar association ‘Diktatura zakona’, Honorary Lawyer of Russia, Associate Professor of the Department of Criminal Law of the Russian University of Advocacy and Notariat named after G.B. Mirzoev, Ph. D. in Jurisprudence.
EAEU member states are at the same time members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). So they use approaches developed in the CIS Model Criminal Code in their national legislation to establish liability for violation of the confidentiality of personal data of their citizens, the code was adopted by a resolution of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly on February 17, 1996 and it is a recommendatory.
The criminal codes of the Republic of Armenia (Article 144), the Republic of Belarus (Article 203-1), the Russian Federation (Article 137), the Republic of Kazakhstan (Article 147) and the Kyrgyz Republic (Article 190) provide for responsibility for the collection and dissemination of information about the private (personal and family) life of persons without their permission.
A distinctive feature of the legislation of the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan is that more serious liability is provided for the fact of dissemination of personal information than for its collection. The legislation of the Republic of Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic, along with the collection and distribution, also provides for similar responsibility for the storage of personal information.
An aggravating circumstance in the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic is the illegal use or dissemination of personal or family secrets in the media or other public speech.
In the Republic of Kazakhstan, the above circumstances of information dissemination also include the use of telecommunications networks, including the Internet. In addition, as in the Republic of Belarus, the disposition includes cases where the dissemination of personal information was committed in relation to a person or his relatives in connection with his official activities or the performance of public duty.
The Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan provides for personal liability of persons entrusted with measures to protect personal data in the event of their disclosure, if this act caused significant harm to the rights and legitimate interests of the subjects of personal data. The criminal law of the Republic of Belarus (Article 203-2) also provides for liability for such violations; however, the activities of such persons are limited only to the processing of personal data. In other EAEU member states, criminal legislation does not contain such provisions.
In the Russian Federation and the Kyrgyz Republic, liability is also provided for the illegal use or dissemination of personal information committed by a person using his official position; in the Republic of Kazakhstan – for the collection and processing of personal information.
It is necessary to pay attention to the following category of personal data, violation of the confidentiality of which is punishable by law – the confidentiality of correspondence.
The criminal codes of the Republic of Armenia (Article 146), the Republic of Belarus (Article 203), the Republic of Kazakhstan (Article 148), the Kyrgyz Republic (Article 193) and the Russian Federation (Article 138) provide for liability for violation of the secrecy of correspondence, telephone negotiations, postal, telegraphic or other messages.
In all EAEU member states, liability for the above act includes a fine and community service. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Belarus and the Kyrgyz Republic, public works are provided in addition. In addition, in the Republic of Belarus, arrest can also be imposed as a punishment, in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic – imprisonment, in the Republic of Kazakhstan, in addition, restriction of freedom. In the Russian Federation, compulsory work may be assigned.
Special legal norms in all of these states provide for liability for violation of the secrecy of correspondence for persons using their official powers. In the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Belarus, this disposition includes cases when such an act was committed using special technical means intended for secretly obtaining information.
As a liability in all EAEU member states, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities is provided. As an additional measure of liability, imprisonment is established in all EAEU member states, except the Republic of Armenia. The legislation of the Republic of Armenia provides for arrest as a substitute for imprisonment. In the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, arrest is considered as another additional measure, however, in these three states, unlike others, a fine can also be imposed as a punishment.
In addition to the above, the Russian Federation also provides for compulsory and forced labor for violation of the confidentiality of correspondence by a person who has exceeded his official authority.
For your questions in the field of international law, you can get highly professional advice from the Bar association ‘Diktatura zakona’.