IT firms urge Moscow authorities to trim the data on employees that are transmitted

Several Russian IT associations sent a letter to Maksut Shadayev, head of Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, asking him to propose to Moscow authorities to shorten the list of data transmitted about remote employees. According to ТАСС, citing the letter.

Among the signatories are Russoft, APKIT, and the association “Domestic Software”.

They noted that among the data transmitted to the authorities there are personal data about employees. At the same time, collecting and transmitting such data about Russian citizens without their consent is unlawful, except in cases provided by law.

The mayor’s decree does not apply to such data, the authors of the letter stressed.

“Both complying with the decree’s requirements and non-compliance place law-abiding companies in a position of compelled and non-negotiable violation of the law,” it says.

The associations noted that many companies simply do not collect the information about their employees that is listed as necessary for transmission to the mayor’s office.

The authors of the letter ask Shadayev to approach Moscow’s mayor with a proposal to exclude from the list of transmitted data information about vehicles, phone numbers, social cards and other similar employee details.

They also propose exempting employers from having to submit weekly reports if the number of remote workers has not changed.

The Ministry of Digital Development confirmed receipt of the letter. The ministry agreed that the information requested by Moscow authorities may be classified as personal data. However, they noted that, on the basis of several regulatory documents, it may be processed without the subject’s consent.

Under Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s decree, employers must provide weekly reports on remote workers from October 12. Non-compliance could incur a fine.

Among the data employers must transmit are employees’ phone numbers, vehicles and social cards.

The Moscow authorities stated that the collection of this information is not aimed at surveillance, but at assessing passenger traffic.

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