Russia amends federal data protection law.

• Position: DATA SECURITY - Brief article

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The upper house of Russia's federal legislature has approved amendments to the country's federal data protection law that mandate strict information security requirements for businesses that process personal data. The amendments also revise some of the statute's data consent provisions.

Russia's comprehensive federal data protection law was passed in 2006, but heavy criticism delayed its actual implementation until July 1, 2011. Observers say the law is similar in approach to the EU's Data Protection Directive, but places far more restrictions on the processing of personal data.

According to the Information LawGroup, the amended security provisions require businesses to:

* Conduct a threat assessment of the safety of personal data and the effectiveness of the measures that the business has in place to safeguard personal data

* Use only verified methods of protecting personal data

* Implement controls for access to personal data

* Log all actions with respect to personal data

* Detect and record incidents of unauthorized access to...