MOSCOW, August 29 (RAPSI) – Russian senator Ruslan Gattarov claims Twitter’s privacy policies violate Russian and European personal data protection laws and seeks a probe into the affair, RIA Novosti reported Thursday. 

Gattarov has addressed a number of officials, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika, head of federal communications agency Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov, and Council of Europe data protection commissioner Eva Souhrada-Kirchmayer among them, with his concerns. Russian MP says a probe should be held and measures taken in case violations are exposed.

The senator notes that the social networking service has gained popularity in Russia, and thus its alleged policy breaches may as a result affect a large number of citizens and have negative consequences. He says a preliminary examination of Twitter policies has revealed certain violations. 

Gattarov is especially interested in the fact that the privacy policy section was not translated into Russian while the whole website had been translated. “This is a violation of Russian users’ rights for getting information about their personal data handling by Twitter service and is deemed to be hiding information constituting public interest,” Gattarov says. 

Besides, Twitter policies are not in line with the European Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (the Convention) which was ratified by Russia, according to the senator. Notably, the said policies lack explanation for the reason for collecting personal data in breach of Article 5 of the Convention. This means the personal data could be handled and processed in any way at the discretion of Twitter management.

Moreover, Twitter policies contradict the Russian federal law on personal data protection as the rules for submitting of personal data to the third parties can be interpreted broadly. 

Gattarov is known for bringing the same questions in July over Google’s policies. 

Users who accept Google's privacy terms likely do not know that they are giving the company permission to use their personal data not only in the service that they requested to use, but also in all the company's other services, according to the senator. "This mechanism is a gross violation of people's constitutional right to the inviolability of privacy," Gattarov said.