Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media has developed order of transferring biometric data of citizens collected by financial market organizations, into a state Unified Biometric System Interfax reports.

The explanatory note to the document says the proposed order “is aimed at ensuring provision of reliable and detailed information to the subject of personal data about the possibility of transferring his/her biometric personal data to a unified biometric system, which is currently the state information system.”

The transfer is expected to be carried out with the consent of the citizen. To do this, banks – holders of biometric data - will be required to inform their customers about the possibility of such migration using a mobile application or SMS. Citizens will be able to express their consent to the transfer and processing of personal data within seven days upon the receipt of the notification. The consent can be signed using a simple electronic signature.

If the customer does not allow the transfer of the data from the Commercial Biometric System (CBS) to the Unified Biometric System (UBS), then the biometrics is stored inside the CBS. “The bank or other organization will be able to continue using the available biometrics in accordance with the consent of the individual in order to provide services, including in a remote format, offered by the organization. In this case, though, the customer will be deprived of the opportunity to receive remote services in other banks and organizations connected to the UBS,” the ministry said.

Alexander Khinshtein, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Information Policy and Information Technologies, told Interfax that “the order of transferring data from banks to the state has yet to be clarified, entry of the norm into effect has been postponed until September 2022.”

The Unified Biometric System has been launched at the initiative of the Ministry of Digital Development, the Bank of Russia and Rostelecom in 2018.

The partner of Fintech section is