The resolution of the Russian government, which obliges messenger operators to identify their users by phone number, entered into force on Sunday, May 5th. The relevant document, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed on November 6, 2018, reports TASS .

Before the entry into force of the new rules, messengers authenticated the user using the code sent in the SMS message.

The identification procedure involves the direct interaction of the messenger with the mobile operator. From now on, when registering a user, the messenger is obliged to request information about him from the operator, which the operator must provide information within 20 minutes.

After successfully completing the procedure, the user is assigned a unique number by which he can authorize. In this case, the unique number itself is entered by the operator into a special register indicating what kind of service the client uses.

In case of termination by the client of the contract for the provision of services with the operator, the operator is obliged to inform the messenger about this within a day, after which the latter must re-identify the user or deauthorize him.

Users authorized before the entry into force of the new rules will not need to re-authenticate if the data of the operator and the messenger match.

For refusal to work under the new rules for instant messengers, a penalty in the amount of 1 million rubles, as well as blocking.

According to TASS, all the surveyed mobile operators from the Big Four (Beeline, MTS, Megafon and Tele2) said they were ready to meet the new requirements.

The head of Roskomnadzor, Alexander Zharov, also said that this decision would ensure the safety of Russians, since the possibility of anonymous communication in messengers "makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies."

Note that since April 2018, the Telegram messenger has been formally blocked in Russia because of the refusal of the company's management to transfer encryption keys to the FSB. Fully restrict access to the messenger Roskomnadzor has not yet been possible, but as a result of attempts to do this, the Russians began to experience problems with access to hundreds of other sites and services.

Recall, on May 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the so-called law on the isolation of the RuNet , which is designed to ensure stable operation of the Russian Internet segment in the event of a disconnection from the global network or coordinated attacks.

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