On December 12, 2023, the State Parliament (Duma) announced that Federal Law No. 589-FЗ, amending the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (the Federal Law), was signed by the President of the Russian Federation. Specifically, the amendments concern the increase in penalties for unlawful processing of biometric data.

In particular, the Federal Law states that for banks and a number of other legal entities, violation of the procedure for placing and updating biometric personal data in a unified biometric system may result in a fine ranging from:

• RUB 100,000 (approx. $1,095) to RUB 300,000 (approx. $3,286) for officials; and
• RUB 500,000 (approx. $5,483) to RUB 1 million (approx. $10,965) for legal entities.

In case of processing of biometric data without written consent of the data subject or for violation of the content requirements for written consent, the penalties range from:

• RUB 10,000 (approx. $109) to RUB 15,000 (approx. $164) for individuals;
• RUB 100,000 (approx. $1,095)) to RUB 300,000 (approx. $3,286) for officials; and
• RUB 300,000 (approx. $3,286) to RUB 700,000 (approx. $7,676) for legal entities.

For repeated violations, the fines are increased to RUB 30,000 (approx. $329) for individuals, to RUB 500,000 (approx. $5,483) for officials, to RUB 1 million (approx. $10,965) for individual entrepreneurs, and to RUB 1.5 million (approx. $16,454) for legal entities.

The Federal Law entered into force on December 23, 2023.

You can read the press release here and the Federal Law here, both only available in Russian.