Russia fines Google for not localizing user data

A court in Moscow ruled on Thursday to fine Google LLC 15 million rubles (about 260,000 U.S. dollars) for repeated refusal to localize the personal data of Russian users.

Google representatives did not attend the sitting, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported from the courtroom.

Google continues to use databases located in the United States and the European Union for storing the personal data of Russian users, breaching the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses, the court found.

Russian legislation requires Internet service providers to store and process the personal data of Russians in the territory of Russia.

Russian telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor has the right to initiate a case to impose fines on or even block Internet companies for their violations.

Google was fined 3 million rubles (about 52,000 dollars) in July 2021 for the same reason.