Russia moves to give security services near real-time access to citizens’ travel data
Russia’s Transport Ministry is proposing to expand the range of data on Russians’ trips that carriers transmit to the state, according to a draft of the ministry’s new order, Verstka reported.
Russia has maintained automated, centralized databases of personal data on passengers and crew members since 2024, drawing information from carriers and booking services on flights and trips by plane, long-distance train, intercity bus, and sea and river transport.
The database records ticket purchases, returns, and reissuances, as well as refunds, passenger boarding and disembarkation, departure information, and other transactions. It also holds passengers’ personal data, including passport details, email addresses, the login and password hash for their carrier accounts, the IP address used to book tickets, and payment information. Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry and Federal Security Service are among the agencies with access to the databases.
Under the new draft order, carriers would have to submit not just planned trip data but actual trip data as well. Airlines and railways would have 15 minutes after a passenger’s arrival at the final destination to enter the data, while operators of road, sea, and river transport would have 30 minutes. Each trip would also be assigned a unique identifier linking all of a passenger’s actions — from booking and purchasing a ticket to boarding and disembarking.
For air travel, the database would additionally receive data on connecting flights and baggage, with the new requirements applying to both scheduled and charter flights.
Experts interviewed by Verstka believe authorities will primarily use the new rules for investigative operations — tracking the movements of people named in criminal cases, convicts, suspects, and witnesses “literally in real time, with minimal delays.” They doubt the tool will be needed for mobilization, however, since an automatic ban on leaving the country and revocation of driver’s licenses already let authorities restrict the movement of those liable for military service.
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