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posted by martyb on Monday July 31 2017, @09:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the someone's-watching-you dept.

Russia has banned VPNs capable of circumventing website blocking, and will require users of chat apps to have a phone number associated with their accounts:

Vladimir Putin has banned virtual private networks (VPNs) and Tor in a crackdown on apps that allow access to websites prohibited in Russia. The law, signed by Mr Putin, was passed by Russia's parliament last week and will now come into force on 1 November. A second law to ban anonymous use of online messaging services will take effect on 1 January next year.

It would make it easier for the state to snoop on citizens' browsing habits, one internet security expert suggested.

The laws signed by Mr Putin are meant only to block access to "unlawful content" and not target law-abiding web users, the head of the lower house of parliament said, according to the RIA news agency.

One feature of the second law is the provision to require internet operators to restrict users' access if they are found to be distributing illegal content.

Also at Engadget, ZDNet, RT, TechCrunch, and CNET.

Related: Apple Capitulates, Removes Unlicensed VPN Apps From China App Store


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  • (Score: 1) by tftp on Tuesday August 01 2017, @04:28PM

    by tftp (806) on Tuesday August 01 2017, @04:28PM (#547696) Homepage

    Just how are the secret police going to round somebody up when the real trick might be finding the device first?

    Just like about anywhere in the world, this law is not going to be used against *everybody*. It will be used selectively, when the government wants to incarcerate someone but has no other crime to pin to him. When you know who the person is, it is not too difficult to locate all the illegal routers and VPNs - just power up his PC and see what interfaces it has configured... It's not like everyone is going to run around with Tails on a CD.