Russian venture capitalists want lawmakers to legalize market for ‘depersonalized data’

The Internet Initiatives Development Fund is lobbying Russian lawmakers to adopt new regulations that would allow citizens to sell their own “depersonalized data” on the open market. The venture capital fund says individuals could earn as much as 60,000 rubles ($900) a year by providing this information to different companies. The organization argues that the draft legislation would help reduce Russia’s existing black market trade of individuals’ personal data.

Several industry experts told the newspaper Kommersant, however, that the draft law grossly exaggerates the amount of money people should expect to earn from selling their personal information. They say the legislation is really designed to benefit Russia’s “big data” business: the country’s banks, telecoms, and major online services. There is also serious disagreement about the concept of “depersonalized data” and whether it actually protects individuals’ confidentiality.