In July 2014, the Russian President signed data protection and information legislation that requires all “data operators” who are processing personal data of Russian citizens, including over the Internet, to do so from servers/databases within Russia.  While the original law provided for a September 1, 2016 commencement date, new legislation is moving through the Russian Parliament that would advance the commencement date to January 1, 2015.  This law should significantly impact the collection, processing and storage of personal data of Russian citizens.

This issue was recently reported on by our friends at Bird & Bird.  Click this link to read the Bird & Bird alert.