PayPal and eBay to transfer user data to Russia in compliance with new law

The online auction company eBay has agreed to transfer the personal data of Russian citizens to servers based in Russia. It is expected that this data will be transferred by September 1, 2015.

According to Kommersant sources, the online payment system PayPal, which belongs to ebay, has agreed to do the same.

The transfer of data to Russian servers is required of all online companies which deal with Russian citizens’ personal data. According to a law passed in 2014, companies which fail to comply with this requirement can be blocked from the web in Russia. The law comes into effect on September 1, 2015.

Vadim Ampelonskiy, spokesman for Roskomnadzor [Russia’s state-run media watchdog] confirmed that Roskomnadzor officials had met with eBay and that “the company stated its readiness to comply with the law. Vladimir Dolgov, a representative of eBay, told Kommersant that “eBay is part of the working group from day one, but this was the first meeting with government officials.”

In July 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law, according to which all personal data of Russians must be kept on servers located in Russia. The law was initially supposed to come into action in 2016, but Russian parliament sped up the process, and the law will now come into action as early as September 1, 2015.

Business representatives voiced criticism of the law and indicated that many services may stop operating in Russia, including services for flight ticket sales.