Russia Fines United Parcel Service Over Data Storage

The latest Russian court ruling has slammed several global tech giants for not localizing data and failing to follow its rules. Twitch, Airbnb, Pinterest and UPS were all fined for failing to comply with the country’s law and store data locally. The companies face fines of two million roubles (US$317,000) and ten years in prison.

Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor has filed administrative cases against a handful of international companies over data storage. They claim these firms have violated the country’s legislation on personal data. Twitch, Pinterest, and Airbnb were fined 2 million roubles (approx. $1 million) each, while UPS was fined one million roubles.

Russian communications regulators are cracking down on companies that store and use data in the country. They fine companies from one to six million rubles. But as Russia continues its military incursion in Ukraine, it has continued to attack influential Western tech companies. The fines are not yet known if Russia will pay them. The company is still reviewing the ruling by the Moscow court. The company has until June 28 to respond.

Roskomnadzor has also filed cases against Alphabet Inc.’s Google for violating Russia’s data storage laws. While most of these fines are in the range of 1-2M rubles ($19K-$37K), they continue to increase. The fines are even higher for repeat offenders. In comparison, Google has received only a $340,000 fine.

The Russian government has already sanctioned Google’s subsidiary in Moscow over data storage. Russian authorities seized its bank account and made the company unable to pay vendors and employees. Now, the company faces fines over the content of its websites. While the fines were largely symbolic, they show that Russia’s judicial system is increasingly lenient. But while many major corporations have yet to heed the ruling, the latest action has caused some concern.