MOSCOW, October 23 (RAPSI) – The Foreign Investment Advisory Council (FIAC) has asked Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to amend the data storage law, Kommersant newspaper writes on Thursday.

A FIAC working group has asked the prime minister to approve a review of the laws on personal data and on personal data storage. In particular, the term “personal data operator” should be clarified to exclude employers who process personal data under labor legislation requirements.

They also argue that the term “data telecommunications network” should not include in-house networks. They also rule out by default the possibility that information can be accessed by “an unlimited group of people” and argue that corporate information is used specifically for administrative, economic and other purposes pertaining to a given company’s operation.

As it is, the law could create problems for the management of personnel and deliveries, accounting and financial transactions, sending corporate information by email, directional documentation and information resources posted on in-house networks.

In July 2014, President Vladimir Putin signed a law to require foreign online companies that sell plane tickets and consumer goods in Russia, as well as social networking sites, to store Russians’ personal data only in Russia. On September 24, the State Duma adopted a bill in the second reading to approve the enforcement of this law in January 2015.

The FIAC has also asked that the discussion of a bill on moving the date for the enforcement of the law from September 1, 2016 to January 1, 2015 be suspended, because it is impossible to adjust in-house networks to the provisions of the law too soon. Apart from additional spending that could run into the tens of millions of euros, this could lead to the closure of law-abiding companies, the investors say.