By Olga Razumovskaya
MOSCOW--Russian state-controlled telecommunications company
Rostelecom said Google Inc. has moved some servers to Russian data
centers to comply with a controversial law that mandates that
Internet companies store Russians' personal data within the
country's borders, a person familiar with the matter said
Friday.
A representative of Rostelecom told a meeting with the
communications ministry and data centers that Google has begun
placing some of its servers at Rostelecom's data centers, said a
person who was at the meeting, confirming a report by the RBC news
website.
Another person who works in the industry also said Google has
begun moving some of its servers to Russia.
Google's Russia office declined to comment but its spokeswoman
said the company is studying the law. A Rostelecom spokesman
declined to comment.
Russian officials say the law, which comes into effect on Sept.
1, is a security measure to protect against foreign threats. But
rights advocates describe it as part of a drive to increase
scrutiny of the Internet and cut freedom of information. Social
networks including Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are one of the
country's few remaining spaces for dissent.
Online marketplace eBay Inc. said the company is working "to
determine an optimal solution that balances legal and regulatory
requirements with the interests of our customers."
Some analysts have said the law will be difficult to implement,
as global Internet companies will have to track which data come
from Russia.
The cost for Google to comply with the law may be only from tens
of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, as they will use
their own servers and only need to hire data centers' racks and
space, said Karen Kazaryan, chief analyst at the Russian
Association for Electronic Communications, a trade body
representing the Internet industry.
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