The personal information crisis continues. Google is fined $164,000 in Russia

A Russian court imposed a new fine on the American company Google, worth 15 million rubles, or about 164 thousand dollars, due to its refusal to store the personal data of its Russian users.

This decision comes as part of a series of fines imposed by Russia on the American technology giant, amid increasing tensions between the two countries against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. According to what was reported by Reuters, a judge in a Moscow court said: “Google has repeatedly refused to store personal data about citizens in Russia, which violates Russian law.” The judge added: “Google contacted the Russian authorities, but failed to provide sufficient guarantees for storing the personal data of its Russian users.” 

This is not the first time that Russia has imposed fines on Google for what it considers a “violation of Russian law.” Last year, Moscow imposed a fine of 3 million rubles (about 33 thousand dollars) on the company, for not responding to a request to delete alleged false information about the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia continues to impose restrictions on foreign companies, as part of its efforts to control the information its citizens obtain. These restrictions include blocking access to some websites, and imposing strict censorship on the media.