VPNs Will Continue Working in Russia (You Just Can't Advertise Them)
Advertising ways to bypass blocking is prohibited, but the technologies themselves will still work
Beginning on March 1, 2024, it is legally prohibited in Russia to publish information about ways to bypass blocking using VPN services. Access to Internet pages containing such information will be limited by the Russian agency Roskomnadzor. This is discussed in the federal law and department order that comes into force on the first day of March. At the same time, there are no plans to completely ban VPNs in Russia.
What is a VPN?
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a technology that allows you to establish a secure connection to the Internet. A VPN creates a private channel from your phone or computer to a certain point in the virtual space, while the traffic is encrypted and the provider cannot see what exactly you are transmitting — this is how telecom expert Eldar Murtazin explains it.
There are many different services offering to create such a network on the Internet. When connecting to a VPN, you can use blocked resources, such as social networks or Internet pages with information prohibited in Russia.
Dangerous or Not?
A VPN does not provide complete secrecy of user actions, warns Eldar Murtazin. The owners of the application can see how a person uses the technology, what resources he visits, and manage this data at his own discretion.
“Free VPN services are designed to spy on users,” the analyst said. “Using them, you and your data are turned into a commodity that can be sold.”
The danger of personal data leakage was also confirmed by the State Duma IT Committee. VPN services work into the hands of those who cause massive leaks of user data and a growing market for trading personal information, committee member Anton Nemkin told the Parliament Gazette. Not only foreign companies, but also foreign states, according to him, can use information intercepted from VPN users for their own purposes. For example, to steal money, blackmail people and their families, and even to destabilize the situation in a country.
“All this makes unscrupulous VPN services extremely dangerous. You should not forget about this when you install them on your devices, and you should not trust them with all your data,” concluded Anton Nemkin.
When Will VPNs be Banned in Russia?
Despite the obvious threats, there are no plans to completely ban VPN technology in Russia yet. This was announced by presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov at the beginning of February 2024. The information was confirmed by the head of the Duma IT committee Alexander Khinshtein. And his deputy Anton Gorelkin, in response to a request from the Parliament Gazette, said that there would be no direct ban on the use of VPNs, since, in addition to malicious ones, there are also bona fide services that Russian companies need to protect internal traffic.
However, it must be remembered that if the state closes access to a particular Internet resource, this is always done for serious reasons, Gorelkin noted. “The dissemination of destructive content, calls for extremism, information that harms the development of children — we are trying to protect [the Russian internet] and its users from all this,” the deputy concluded.
There will be no liability for the use of VPNs in Russia, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, previously stated.
What Will Change as of March 1, 2024
Last summer, Vladimir Putin signed a law banning the dissemination of information about ways to bypass blocking of prohibited Internet resources. In particular, advertising of VPN services that do not filter traffic will be prohibited. The norm comes into force on March 1, 2024.
Roskomnadzor, by its order, defined the criteria necessary for making a decision on extrajudicial blocking of a site:
contains a description of actions that allow you to gain access to information resources to which access is limited,
gives an idea of the ways and methods of providing access to prohibited information resources,
encourages the use of methods and methods to bypass blocking, including by describing the benefits of their use, or information that approves or justifies their use,
contains an offer to purchase access to a VPN service to bypass the blocking,
provides the ability to gain access by downloading a program to bypass locks.
What are the Prospects?
The Roskomnadzor agency has blocked large services that violate Russian law, but it is still unable to completely ban the technology. This opinion was expressed to the Parliament Gazette by telecom expert Maxim Kornienko. Ways to bypass blocking will still be found, he believes.
Another problem: when VPN services are blocked, access to program code libraries and software necessary for work, access to which was limited for Russia after the start of the SMO, may become a problem.
As a result, it is impossible to block all VPN services. And it's not necessary. Those who want to see/read the prohibited content will probably find opportunities to do so, but at the same time they themselves risk breaking Russian laws or losing personal data, or even money.
Source: pnp.ru (Russian)