Mass surveillance in Russia

Mass surveillance is the pervasive surveillance of an entire or a substantial fraction of a population.^[1] Mass surveillance in Russia includes surveillance, open-source intelligence and data mining, lawful interception as well as telecommunications data retention.

Surveillance systems

Semantic Archive

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) uses a special analytical search system designed by the Russian firm Analytic Business Solutions called "Semantic Archive".^[2] The advertised features of Semantic Archive are:^[3][4]

• Automated collecting and processing of information obtained from heterogeneous sources, both internal (file documents, proprietary databases, e-mails) and external (online databases, news media, blogs, forums, social networks).
• Single uniform storage for all types of collecting documents.
• Knowledge extraction, i.e. automatic and semi-automatic extraction of objects, events and relationships from documents.
• Maintaining of knowledge base and collecting dossiers on particular projects, investigations, partners, competitors, clients, etc.
• Revealing of hidden or implicit relationships between objects.
• Visual presentation of knowledge in the form of semantic network.
• Variety of reports used to present results of research.

It is used by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Ministry of the Interior (MVD) to monitor open sources and the Internet, including the blogosphere and social networks.^[5]

SORM

Russia's System of Operational-Investigatory Measures (SORM) requires telecommunications operators to install hardware provided by the Federal Security Service (FSB) which allow the agency to monitor users' communications metadata and content, including phone calls, email traffic and web browsing activity.^[6]

The SORM-1 (implemented in 1995) system captures telephone and mobile phone communications, SORM-2 (implemented in 1999) intercepts Internet traffic, and SORM-3 collects information from all forms of communication, providing long-term storage of all information and data on subscribers, including actual recordings and locations.^[7] In 2014, the system was expanded to include social media platforms, and the Ministry of Communications ordered companies to install new equipment with Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) capability.^[6] In 2016, SORM-3 added additional classified regulations that apply to all Internet Service providers in Russia.^[6]

The FSB is required to obtain a post-collection court warrant to access these records. Surveillance can begin before the warrant is granted or requested, the warrant need not be shown to the telecom operator, and it is only required for the retrieval of collected communications content, not for the metadata.^[6]

The European Court for Human Rights deemed Russia's SORM legislation in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights in 2015 (Zakharov v. Russia).

2014 Winter Olympics

The FSB made classified arrangements for significant upgrades to SORM equipment in Sochi prior to the 2014 Winter Olympics. All communication and Internet traffic by Sochi residents is now captured and filtered through deep packet inspection systems at all mobile networks. Roskomnadzor, a federal executive body responsible for media control, reported that several local ISPs were fined by the government after they failed to install FSB-recommended SORM devices.^[8]

Data retention

Bloggers law

A 2014 law dubbed "Bloggers law" includes data retention provisions. According to the law, bloggers with over 3,000 daily readers are required to register and can no longer remain anonymous online. Organizations that provide platforms for their work such as search engines, social networks and other forums must maintain computer records on Russian soil of everything posted over the previous six months.^[9] Major services required to comply include Facebook, Skype, Gmail and Twitter.^[10][11]

Public Internet

As of August 2014, operators of public Wi-Fi networks in Russia have to identify users by IDs. The identification data is to be stored for at least six months.^[12]

Yarovaya law

In July 2016, President Vladimir Putin signed into law two sets of legislative amendments commonly referred to as the Yarovaya Law after their key author, Irina Yarovaya. According to the amendments, Internet and telecom companies are required to store for 6 months to 3 years communications and metadata, and disclose them as well as "all other information necessary," to authorities, on request and without a court order. It also requires email and messaging service providers to have cryptographic backdoors. The surveillance regulations will take effect on 1 July 2018.

Anonymity

Operators of free Wi-Fi hotspots (restaurants, libraries, cafes etc.) are legally required to collect personal details of all users, identify them using passports, and store the data.^[13][12]

All VPN software and anonymizers that do not implement Russia's internet blacklist are banned in Russia as of November 2017.^[14][15][16]

"Organizers of information dissemination" such as online messenger services that allow unidentified users are banned as of January 2018.^[17]

Messaging services, email and social networks that use encrypted data are required to permit the Federal Security Service (FSB) to access and read their encrypted communications without a court order starting in July 2018.^[18][19][20]

References