Want to Use Public Wi-Fi in Russia? Let's See Some ID

Russia will soon require a passport from those wishing to use public Wi-Fi. Images mixed by author.

Russia will soon require a passport from those wishing to use public Wi-Fi. Images mixed by author.

Internet users in Russia won't be able to use Wi-Fi in public spots anonymously any longer. The Russian government is now going to require individuals accessing public Wi-Fi hotspots to present their passports or IDs. Personal data will be recorded and stored by the Internet provider, along with information about the devices used, including their unique MAC-addresses. According to Russian media, Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev has already signed the corresponding government decree (the full text is also available on the government's legislation portal).

The decree also obliges wireless hotspot owners – restaurants, cafes, libraries – to provide their ISPs with lists of those who used their public connections, disclosing their names, addresses and ID numbers. Such lists should be updated every three months or so.

Rambler & Co's government relations director, Matvey Alekseev thought this decree was a bit strange, since Wi-Fi coverage in Moscow, for instance, extends to parks and even streets, making physical identification difficult.

Идентификация пользователя при доступе к Сети через Wi-Fi в общественных местах неосуществима. Только в Москве покрытие открытого Wi-Fi охватывает все парки и места общественного доступа. Не думаю, что все, кто придет в парк Горького, будут показывать свои паспорта.

Identifying users when they access the Internet over Wi-Fi in public spaces is impossible. In Moscow alone open Wi-Fi covers all parks and public access spots. I don't think that everyone who comes to Gorky Park will show their passports.

The need to store personal data also means that all cafes or parks must apply for a “personal data operator” license with Roskomnadzor or pay a fine if they fail to do so.

Government officials, however, think the decree is especially necessary, since it allows to curb the shady shenanigans of suspicious persons in the current state of “information warfare.” So says first deputy head of the Duma committee on information politics, information technology and communications Vadim Dengin:

Речь идет о безопасности. Идет информационная война. Анонимное подключение к интернету в общественных местах позволяет осуществлять противозаконные действия безнаказанно. Найти нарушителя бывает весьма сложно. Американцы боятся войны, сейчас им лучше всего воевать в информационном пространстве. Они усилили свой холдинг «Голос Америки». Те, кто заинтересован в дестабилизации, пытаются насытить Сеть мошенниками, фашистами и экстремистами. Всё, что связано с интернетом, должно быть идентифицировано.

We're talking about security. There's an information war going on. Anonymous connection to the Internet in public places allows to engage in illegal activity with impunity. It can be very difficult to find the perpetrator. Americans are afraid of war, right now it's best for them to wage war in the information sphere. They have beefed up the “Voice of America” holding. Those interested in destabilization are trying to saturate the web with crooks, fascists and extremists. Everything connected to the Internet must have identification.

Updated on August 8, 2014.

Since the initial announcement, there has been much confusion about what qualifies as a “public Wi-Fi hotspot.” Soon after the news broke, a Moscow city official claimed that the decree only applied to “collective access points” run as part of the state's universal communications services network (namely those in Russia's postal service locations), and that Wi-Fi access in parks, cafes, subway, universities and schools did not require identification.

The Russian communications Ministry later weighed in to clarify that the requirement only applies to hotspots set up by network operators (and not private access spots set up by individuals for personal use). The Ministry also explained that operators providing access don't necessarily require a passport or ID, but can also ask the user to fill in a form or send a text message and hand over their identifying information.

Dmitri Medvedev's press-secretary, Natalya Timakova, also commented on the new initiative and suggested that the decree's requirements might be modified depending on how its practical application will proceed. Hopefully, this might mean the decree will gain a bit more clarity on who is actually required to collect users’ personal data in exchange for Wi-Fi access. TJournal notes that in its present form, the decree does not explain how the identifying information will be verified, which means network operators providing public wireless Internet access will have to trust whatever information users choose to hand over.

As Russia follows in the footsteps of some of its former Soviet neighbours, like Uzbekistan, which already requires user identification for access to public Internet connections, we can only guess what the Kremlin will think of next as its officials become more and more paranoid about the potential of a free Internet.

24 comments

  • tdilla

    It’s legislation like this that makes it impossible for me to support Edward Snowden. I am grateful he exposed the NSA’s unlawful data collection of Americans, but to sit in Russia and allow himself to be milked like a cow just shows that Snowden, when the money is on the line, doesn’t stand up for what he says he believes in. His attempt to spoon-feed Putin a line during a recent public Q & A asking about Russia’s domestic espionage shows just how weak he really is in Russia. Putin’s response that Russia doesn’t have the capabilities of the NSA is hogwash; capabilities are irrelevant, it’s the intention that matters, and right now Snowden is a living, breathing contradiction of internet and personal freedom values.

    • Skrilla Mcskrillerson

      Snowden went to the first country that would prevent our traitorous leaders from capturing him and torturing him the same way they did Manning. Unfortunately we torture and abuse whistleblowers, and Russia is the only country capable of protecting him from the US government. Pointing out that their government isn’t better than ours has nothing to do with Snowden. Snowden doesn’t work for the equivalent of their spy agency, he hasn’t been working hands-on with data worth exposing to the world. I’d imagine if he worked as a sysadmin for Russia’s leading spy agency that your argument would be valid. He does not however, and the only thing he knows is that despite the majority of Americans favoring him that our politicians will ignore the will of democracy and have their own agenda. The fact is that he would’ve come back here a long time ago if our government let him peacefully return with a promise to not torture him and throw him in prison for his heroic deeds to our country.

      • tdilla

        That’s utter nonsense. Russia is the only country capable of protecting him? Correction: Russia is the only country willing to protect him. Snowden exposed the fact that the modern nation-state conducts surveillance on its population. Snowden would be a hero if he exposed what he did and faced down the US justice system; the American people would support him. He would not be “tortured”. You claim Manning was tortured? You as an American taxpayer are paying for his sex change…some torture that is.

        No, Snowden fled like a coward. He walked into the open arms of the FSB and hasn’t had the testicular fortitude to call them on their own surveillance, and as a result, his ultimate goal of supporting personal freedom looks like a kick to the US nuts and nothing more. Snowden’s initial revelation was brave, but his follow-through has been pathetic. You simply cannot convince a sane individual that you support personal privacy and freedom while living on the dime of a government that requires you to register your social media account and sign in for public wi-fi…it’s a total contradiction of values, and it compromises all of the values he stands for.

  • […] “Those interested in destabilization are trying to saturate the web with crooks, fascists and extremists. Everything connected to the internet must have identification,” Dengin said, according to a Global Voices translation. […]

  • […] news website Izvestia reports that Internet users in Russia soon will be asked to show their IDs or passports when logging on to public WiFi hotspots, under a government decree […]

  • […] Everything connected to the internet must have identification,” Dengin spoke, according to a translation by Global […]

  • […] 8. Want to Use Public Wi-Fi in Russia? Let's See Some ID by Tetyana Lokot […]

  • […] So why is Russia doing this? Here’s what one official said: […]

  • […] hotspot users to verify their identification by presenting a passport or ID card. According to Global Voices, wireless hotspot owners such as restaurants, cafes, and libraries must provide ISPs with a list of […]

Join the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.