Ministry of Communications proposes to fine libraries and schools for anonymous WiFi

The Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation issued another ingenious offer. It continues to struggle with anonymous Internet access and has prepared a bill on which the administration of public places (cafes, libraries, schools, parks, etc.) is obliged to identify users of free WiFi, otherwise they face a fine of up to 200,000 rubles. This was reported in the press service of the Ministry of Communications .

Each institution will be obliged to conclude an agreement with the service provider to identify users and the equipment they use - smartphones, laptops, etc.

In accordance with the decrees of the government of the Russian Federation dated July 31, 2014 and August 12, 2014, the user’s identity is established either by using a document (for example, a passport), or a cellular communication number (in Russia, a contract with a mobile operator is presented with a document), or login on the portal of public services.

Under current law, non-compliance with the rules provides for a fine only for a telecom operator, but not for libraries, schools, cafes, institutes, parks and other public places where there is free WiFi. The new bill eliminates this gap in the legislation.
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Administrative Code offer to add article 13.32. For “violation of the procedure for identification of users of communication services for data transmission and provision of access to the information and telecommunication network of the Internet and the terminal equipment used by them”, a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 rubles is imposed on officials, legal entities from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles . In the case of repeated violations - 300 thousand rubles.

In a comment for the newspaper Izvestia, one of the café owners complained that unidentified persons came to him and extorted 1,500 rubles, otherwise they threatened to complain to the supervisory authorities about the lack of identification of WiFi users. The owner of the cafe suggested a way out: a WiFi access point can be issued to an individual, for example, a neighbor from above. Individuals are not required to identify WiFi users.