Russia to block LinkedIn over data domiciling issues

LinkedIn says regulator sent letter to the wrong office

Russia looks to be on the verge of blocking access to LinkedIn because it claims the site isn't complying with its law requiring Russians' personal data to be stored on Russian soil.

Local newswires Interfax and Tass both report that the Tagansky District Court has upheld a complaint by Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor, which says it wrote to LinkedIn to inquire about data domiciling but did not receive a substantive reply.

LinkedIn appears to have argued that Russia asked its United States office to sort this out, but that LinkedIn Ireland is the entity responsible for data on non-US citizens. The recently-acquired-by-Microsoft social network for suits therefore thinks Russia should send a letter to Ireland, and has welcomed talks to sort things out.

For now, it looks LinkedIn will find itself on the wrong side of the iron curtain next Monday.

Russia this week also floated a bill bill that to The Register's eye, after squinting through an online translator, looks like an effort to give the nation's government a single control point for the nation's physical internet infrastructure. It's also discussing a “Digital Home” initiative, a secure space for interaction between citizens, business and government. Our reading of this plan is that it will be on the Internet, but something of a walled garden for intra-Russian communications. ®