Public WiFi Law. Briefly and clearly. Everything You Need to Know About Connecting to Wi-Fi in Public Places Banning Wi-Fi in Public Places

Today citizens Russian Federation do not visit establishments that do not have access to the wi-fi network. And it is precisely in order to control users who enter the Internet that the Russian Federation has adopted several legislative acts.

Today, user authorization is a prerequisite to access the free wi-fi network. According to the law, entering personal data will help to secure both the user and the owner of the establishment or other institution.

To please users and buyers with free access to a wi-fi network is not so easy with the current legislation of the Russian Federation. The main condition for free access to wi-fi is user authorization.

This condition is described in the following statutory provisions:

• Federal Law No. 126 "On Communication", which entered into force on July 7, 2003;
• Government Decree No. 801 "On Amendments to Certain Acts of the Government of the Russian Federation";
• Of the Russian Federation dated July 27, 2006 No.
• Order of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation No. 83 dated 04.16.2014;
• Federal Law of the Russian Federation of July 27, 2006 N as amended and supplemented;
• Rules for the provision of communication services for data transmission, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 23, 2006 N 32;
• Rules for the provision of telematic communication services, approved by the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 10, 2007 N 575;
• Rules for the provision of universal communication services, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation of April 21, 2005 N 241;
• Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 31, 2014 N 758.

According to the above legislative acts, when authorizing, the user in mandatory must pass the identification of the person and his gadget. Identification is required for public access to wi-fi in:

• public wi-fi cafes;
• bars;
• restaurants;
• libraries;
• schools;
• parks and others in public places.

The provisions of the Law require the storage of the log of authorized wi-fi users for 6 months (all of this is set out in).

The bill was developed by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation in cooperation with:

• MFD of Russia;
• FSB of Russia;
• Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

According to the Legislation, providing access to wi-fi is possible in 3 ways:

1. Agreement with telecom operators on user identification. This option is good for organizations that already had access to wi-fi or just want to install it.
2. The operator sets up a wi-fi access network. The advantage in this case is only for the guests of the establishment - they get free access to the data transfer. The head of the establishment or building will have to pay the costs of setting up the network and for the services provided.
3. The institution has access to someone else's wi-fi network. In law , identification natural person is optional, therefore this option is the most beneficial for the entrepreneur. He can negotiate with neighbors and pay them to open a wi-fi hotspot. But it is worth remembering that if civil servants come with an inspection, then there will be many questions and it is better to secure yourself in advance.

Authorization procedure

• with the help of an identity card - the user enters his personal data indicating the passport number;
• using your number - in the Russian Federation, cell numbers are issued upon presentation of the original passport;
• via login on the portal public services.

Changes to the law on providing access to wifi in public places were made on May 5, 2014. The changes concerned the point on mandatory identification of users of wi-fi zones.

In the case of proper business conduct, the authorization procedure can bring not only losses to legal entities and private entrepreneurs, but also profit. For the user to go through the authorization process, he will need to go to the advertising page of the institution or organization. When entering data, the user may be interested in an advertisement or an offer of the company and he will remain on the page, thereby bringing a visit to the company. It is not prohibited by law to authorize users on your advertising page.

Who is responsible for providing Wi-Fi access without identification?

Telecom operators will be responsible for providing unidentified wi-fi access. If operators fail to comply with the law, they face a fine in the amount of 30 to 40 thousand rubles.

Older versions of the law did not stipulate that owners of cafes, libraries, institutes, parks and schools should be held accountable for violating the law. In the course of the latest changes, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications eliminated this error and at the moment the above categories of citizens are also facing a fine for non-compliance with the rules provided for by the legislation.

The amount of the fine for providing access to wi-fi without authorization is:

• for officials- from 5 to 10 thousand rubles;
• for legal entities- from 100 to 200 thousand rubles.

If a citizen breaks the rules more than once, then the amount of the fine for access to wi-fi without identification will already be about 300 thousand rubles. After several warnings, law enforcement agencies have the right to disqualify and remove the violator from his activities for up to 3 years.

According to FZ-126, all legal entities and entrepreneurs are required to provide access to free wi-fi to their users and customers only if they have a contract with telecom operators who can identify citizens.

The introduction of a fine for free access to wi-fi without identification will protect entrepreneurs and legal entities from anonymous SMS with threats from unknown users. An individual code for obtaining free access to the wi-fi network will help keep records of all users, and, if necessary, find the right citizen.

Download the law

Federal Law No. 126 "On Communications" was adopted by the State Duma of the Russian Federation on June 18, 2006. The legislative draft was approved on June 25 of the same year. FZ-126 entered into force on July 7, 2003. Last changes were introduced into the law on June 7, 2017.

The changes affected Article 66. Clauses 3 and 4 were added to it. They stipulate that telecom operators are obliged to provide their customers with equipment and all the necessary conditions for using their services. The article also states that the client should not reimburse the operator for the costs associated with the points listed in paragraph 3.

This Federal Law consists of 13 chapters and 74 articles.

FZ-126 spelled out its goals:

• creation of the necessary conditions for the provision of communication services throughout the territory of the Russian Federation;
• assistance in the introduction of the latest technologies;
• protection of users of communication services;
• effective and fair competition in the market for the provision of communication services and others.

FZ-126 also regulates relations that are associated with:

• creation and use of communication networks and facilities necessary for them;
• exploitation of the radio frequency spectrum;
• provision of electronic and postal services.

According to the provisions of FZ-126, in the competitive market of the Russian Federation, each operator has equal conditions. The state does not give privileges or benefits to anyone. Competition takes place on an equal footing between all service providers.

Do you want to learn more about the provisions of Federal Law No. 126? Download it.

08.21.2014 | 13:21 Society

Laws are different. The good and the bad. Only one thing they are always alike - the laws eventually cease to be correct.

It was hard to foresee that the first appeals to me as an Internet ombudsman would come not from specialized market participants, but from ordinary owners of small restaurants and cafes. Of course, no one has yet had time to offend them, and the appeal itself is more like a dumb question hanging in the air: "What should we do now?"

So after all, is it possible or impossible to provide restaurant guests with free Wi-Fi, and do you need to ask for a passport?

Unfortunately, all possible comments and clarifications, as well as resolutions, did not clarify. And, of course, any subsequent ones will not. Which will certainly be.

Therefore, my answer is extremely simple: it is necessary to take and cancel the Resolution of July 31, 2014 N 758.

Now let me give you a lyrical digression ...
An ordinary cafe. Which is connected to the Internet under an agreement - say, with the operator RosTeleBiMTS. The latter unambiguously identified his subscriber, OOO Cafe. LLC "Cafe" uses the Internet for its own needs. And in the meantime, he also sends tax reports through the latter. Realizing the fact that during a business lunch there are visitors in a nearby cafe, but they do not, the cafe management found out the reason. Free Wi-Fi is available in a nearby cafe !! And, it turns out, this circumstance attracts whole shoals of office plankton for lunch, which continues to work during lunch, which generates huge revenue for the competitor. Fast mobilization - general manager gave the order to eliminate competitive inequality. And now in our cafe there is a router that distributes free Wi-Fi. Life has improved. The revenue went up. Customers are satisfied. Business goes on. And then, like a bolt from the blue, Resolution # 758! What to do? Turn off the Internet - lose clients. Do not turn off - break the law. So is the cafe breaking the law or not? The answer is paradoxical. But it is exactly like this: yes and no. It seems like it violated it even before the decision, but it seems like it didn’t. And from now on, it seems like it will violate, but it seems like it will not.

And now on fingers. The cafe is connected to the Internet on the basis of a subscription agreement with a telecom operator. The cafe does not provide telematic services to anyone (it does not have a license for telematics, as a communication center is not registered), since it only provides the guest with the opportunity to use its Internet connection. The situation is very similar to the one when you plug your charger into an electrical outlet of this very cafe and consume electricity under an agreement between OOO Cafe and Mosenergo, and not under an agreement between you and OOO Cafe.

In this situation, our provider RosTeleBiMTS cannot and should not carry out user identification. Insofar as this procedure it should only conduct when it distributes Wi-Fi itself. Here he has only one subscriber, and this subscriber is OOO Cafe. The cafe also does not have to identify anyone and does not have to ask for a passport, since it does not provide telematic services and is not a communications operator. But! According to the same resolution, LLC "Cafe" is obliged to transmit once a quarter a list of persons using its Internet, certified by the director of the cafe. And here a rebus happened. Naturally, the director will submit the actual staffing table, and more simply - a list of cafe employees who regularly use open point Wi-Fi access in the restaurant. Since LLC "Cafe" is not obliged, unlike a telecom operator, to provide a list of identified client equipment, LLC "Cafe" provides free Internet access for its customers absolutely legally.

Conclusion: restaurants and cafes can continue to delight us with free Wi-Fi access.
But access to the Internet in the park is provided for us by a telecom operator, so it will be possible to get it only after sending an SMS message or entering the EPGU credentials. You can't imagine a better situation for scammers! That there will be a hacking of the Twitter account and mail after the park of culture and recreation account teeming with logins and passwords.

And a bit more. The desire to identify a person entering the Internet is absurd in itself without identifying the device. Identifying a device connected to a network is meaningless without common sense applied to the traffic generated by that device.
To achieve at least some effect, you need to build an ecosystem electronic registration every person on the territory of the Russian Federation is a person (citizen and tourist), every device of this person that can connect to the Internet (in the short term, these are all household appliances and personal gadgets), and the mandatory establishment of a relationship between a person and the list of devices.
I really want this kind of "laws and regulations" to be adopted not from the point of view of today, but from the point of view of tomorrow. Otherwise, the business in our cafe will shrink ...

And we also need to think about our cafe. Not so long ago, visitors were banned from smoking in a cafe. And now all the clients are running outside. Whether it is good or bad that smoking has been banned is impossible to say unequivocally. There are pluses. There are downsides. It became easier to breathe in the cafe. The room is more comfortable. A plus. The guest runs into the street. May get sick. Minus. Together with the guest, a nymph is running fast to "treat him to a cigarette", which before the law was passed for a long time over a cup of coffee all evening, being in a passive search - is this a plus or a minus? You decide. 😉 But I'm wondering - when the law was introduced, the authors were for the health or illness of citizens? For marriage, family or divorce? Such a good law, but the time will come, and even it, perhaps, will cease to be correct. But what about the laws governing the Internet? You need to think. Thinking tomorrow when we try to regulate the Internet. So he encourages me to write at the end: put a like, if you are for the cancellation of the decree!

Initially, Wi-Fi technology was focused on organizing Internet access points for mobile users. This technology provides access to the Internet for subscribers primarily in public places. Gradually, Wi-Fi networks have spread to large and small offices to organize intranets or subnets.

The advantages of wireless access are obvious and Wi-Fi technology has become the de facto standard among device manufacturers. Almost any modern mobile and multimedia device has such a useful feature as Wi-Fi, but, unfortunately, public Wi-Fi can become a dangerous tool in the hands of intruders.

RF legislation

May 28, 2015 at Federal portal draft regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, a draft law was published prepared by the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation on amendments to the Federal Law "On Communications" and the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (Code of Administrative Offenses), which are proposed to establish administrative liability for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs for organizing public Wi-Fi networks that did not provide identification of users and user equipment.

Penalties and liabilities

According to this document, fines for individual entrepreneurs should range from five thousand to fifty thousand rubles, for legal entities - from one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand rubles. Repeated violation of the legislation on WiFi in public places by individual entrepreneurs will entail a fine from ten thousand to one hundred thousand rubles or disqualification for up to three years, and by legal entities - a fine from two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand rubles.

The bill, which was developed by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the FSB of Russia and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, envisages obliging all legal entities and individual entrepreneurs to provide free Internet access in public places only if there is an agreement with a telecom operator on user identification. It is proposed to establish administrative liability for violation of the identification procedure, starting from the first quarter of 2016.

The absence on the part of the subscriber of the procedure for identifying the user in a public Wi-Fi point is a violation of the terms of the agreement on the provision of telematic communication services and may lead to the termination of the agreement on the provision of services for access to the Internet by the telecom operator due to violation of its provisions.

Identification methods

Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 758 of July 31, 2014 "On Amendments to Certain Acts of the Government of the Russian Federation in Connection with the Adoption of the Federal Law" On Amendments to the Federal Law "On Information, information technology and on the protection of information "and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation on the streamlining of information exchange using information and telecommunication networks" introduced mandatory identification of users (full name) and their equipment connected to the Wi-Fi network (MAC address).

RF Resolution No. 801 of August 12, 2014 expanded the possibilities for identifying subscribers of public networks. As a result, telecom operators were able to use for identification not only the passport of a citizen, or the number mobile phone, but also identify it using the ESIA data ( Unified system identification and authentication) or using a login and password on the website of state services of the Russian Federation.

Currently, the following identification methods are permitted by law:

• by an identity document;
• by mobile phone number;
• using an account on the portal of public services (ESIA).

We would like to note that user identification by authorization in in social networks is not provided for by current legislation, this is due to the fact that when registering on social networks there are no ways to uniquely identify (full name) of the user.

Moscow, July 21, 2015.- A draft law on amendments to the Federal Law "On Communications" and the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (Code of Administrative Offenses), prepared by the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, has been published on the Federal Portal of Draft Normative Legal Acts, which are proposed to establish liability for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs for organizing public Wi-Fi networks that do not provide identification of users and user equipment. According to the document, fines for individual entrepreneurs should range from five thousand rubles to fifty thousand rubles, for legal entities - from one hundred thousand rubles to two hundred thousand rubles. Repeated violation of the law by individual entrepreneurs will be punished with a fine from ten thousand rubles to one hundred thousand rubles or disqualification for up to three years, by legal entities - a fine from two hundred thousand rubles to three hundred thousand rubles.

The bill, which the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia is developing jointly with the FSB of Russia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, envisages obliging legal entities and individual entrepreneurs to provide free Internet access in public places only if there is an agreement with a telecom operator on user identification. It is proposed to establish administrative liability for violation of the identification procedure, starting from the first quarter of 2016.

The decision to develop a regulatory legal act was adopted following a discussion at the Government Commission on Communications, which took place on May 27, 2015, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Arkady Dvorkovich. Recall, speaking at the meeting, the head of the Russian Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications Nikolai Nikiforov noted that the organizers of a noticeable number of public Wi-Fi networks still did not introduce mandatory user identification. He also noted the need to enshrine in the Code of Administrative Offenses the responsibility of legal entities and private entrepreneurs for non-compliance with Russian legislation.

As a reminder, amendments to the Federal Law "On Communications" concerning the identification of users of public Wi-Fi networks were adopted in pursuance of Law No. 97-FZ of May 5, 2014 "On Amendments to the Federal Law" On Information, Information Technologies and Protection information "and individual legislative acts of the Russian Federation on the streamlining of information exchange using information and telecommunication networks." The bill was prepared by a group of Russian State Duma deputies headed by Irina Yarovaya, Chairperson of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, and submitted in January 2014 for consideration to the State Duma as part of a package of bills tightening measures against terrorism. It is in line with accepted international practice.

Resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 758 of July 31, 2014 and No. 801 of August 12, 2014 expanded the possibilities of identifying subscribers of communication networks, including public Wi-Fi networks. As a result of the adoption of these resolutions, the operators were able to use for identification not only the user's passport, mobile phone number, but also to identify it using the data of the Unified Identification and Authentication System (ESIA) or using the login and password from the Unified Portal of Public Services. So, since July 13, 2015, a connection using a login and password from the Unified Portal of Public Services to the Wi-Fi network on the Zamoskvoretskaya and Sokolnicheskaya lines of the Moscow metro has been launched.

Small cafes and large restaurants, family hostels and international hotel chains, government institutions and commercial organizations- Regardless of the scale and type of activity, they can all be fined if they distribute public Wi-Fi to their visitors without their identification.

Since 2016, at the legislative level in Russia (government decree No. 758), mandatory authorization of users of public Wi-Fi networks has been introduced. Since then, the sign at the establishment “we have free Wi-Fi” (or simply a recognizable symbol of this technology) has been acting as a beacon for law enforcement officers. All over the country, they go to establishments and check compliance with the law. In case of violation, the fine for individual entrepreneurs is up to 50 thousand rubles (repeated violation - up to 100 thousand or disqualification for up to three years), for legal entities - up to 200 thousand (repeated violation - up to 300 thousand rubles).

In order for owners and managers of establishments to sleep peacefully, it is enough to organize SMS authorization of visitors connecting to the hotspot. The easiest way to do this is using the captive portal - a page for identification by a mobile phone number. But, despite the apparent simplicity, there are important nuances. Collected here are frequently asked questions.

1. Can I make a captive portal myself or do I have to buy a ready-made solution?

Theoretically, you can do it yourself, but technically it is quite difficult. In addition, the law obliges not only to authorize people, but also to store their data (including the connection time and the MAC address of the device) for 6 months, and on servers located physically on the territory of Russia (this is required by law), which independently difficult to do. Therefore, we recommend using ready-made solutions- they are inexpensive, customization is done without any technical knowledge and at the same time comply with the legislation (but not all - you need to find out separately about the storage time of the data). No additional equipment required, just a Wi-Fi router.

2. How much does it cost?

The price of the solution depends on two components: a) the cost of the captive portal itself and b) the number of SMS sent with an authorization code. For the owners of the security gateway Traffic Inspector and, for example, the authorization portal costs nothing, since it is already included in the basic functionality. The cost of one SMS, depending on the operator, the rate of SMS-mailing and the volume, is usually 1-2 rubles (see the rates on the service sites smsc.ru, devinotele.com, smsaero.ru, etc.)

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3. Can I transfer the cost of the SMS to the visitor?

No, this is technically impossible.

4. If a cell tower signal does not reach my establishment, how can I “login” visitors?

If there is no signal, the SMS with the code will not come. In this case, there are two alternatives to login: registration through the public services portal and, finally, upon presentation of a passport (this method may seem ridiculous, but sometimes it really saves, and, for example, in Belarus it is used everywhere). But it is rather exotic: the overwhelming majority of identifications are carried out via SMS - it is easier for both people and the state (it is understood that when purchasing a SIM card, citizens provide their passports, therefore cell numbers are tied to their personal data).

5. Can I use the captive portal for advertising purposes?

The law does not prohibit the use of advertising on the login page, so it is not only possible to use it, but also necessary. For example, a restaurant can show the offer of the day there, a hotel can advertise SPA services, etc. And even if you have nothing to advertise, you can create a simply beautiful login page and support the image of your establishment. Compare a regular and a custom captive portal:

The captive portal is one of the points of contact with the client, so there shouldn't be a miss. Be sure to check with the service that provides you with Wi-Fi identification - is there a registration page in the setting. By the way, in good services you can edit not only it, but also the SMS text with the code.

6. The client sat on the Internet and left. Will he need to register in the Wi-Fi network again tomorrow?

In well-made systems, you can customize how long it remembers the user. For example, in Traffic Inspector, it is at least a day, and in Traffic Inspector Next Generation, the authorization time is configured with an accuracy of a second. But it is undesirable to do it for too long: the client can sell / give his phone to another person, change the number, etc. As a rule, public “wi-fi” networks “remember” the user for 1-3 days. Just do not confuse this period with the duration of storage of personal data - as we said above, according to the law, it should not be less than 6 months.

7. What is the difference between Traffic Inspector and Traffic Inspector Next Generation?

Traffic Inspector is a Windows solution and Traffic Inspector Next Generation is powered by FreeBSD. This is the main difference. In addition, Traffic Inspector Next Generation is a software and hardware complex, and Traffic Inspector is software, which can be supplied either independently or bundled with the DEPO hardware platform. The solution lines have options with a different number of accounts. Thus, both a large chain hotel and a small family cafe will be able to choose the best option for themselves.

Both decisions fully comply with the law on user identification, as well as the law 436-FZ "On the protection of children." (Explanation: in accordance with FZ-97 dated 05/05/2014, Resolution No. 758 dated July 31, 2014 and Resolution No. 801 dated August 12, 2014, data on users of public Wi-Fi networks must be stored by network owners for at least six months and provided at the request of law enforcement agencies).

Both solutions have support for Android and iOS mobile platforms, as well as operating systems Windows, macOS and Linux. Testers of “Smart-Soft” have tested the system performance on popular models of Samsung phones, iPhones, tablets and laptops in order to eliminate one of the most common problems encountered in competitors' solutions - incorrect operation on certain devices.

Summary

If you distribute Wi-Fi to visitors, you must identify them, otherwise you can run into a fine. Registration can be done on the knee by a familiar programmer, but we do not advise you to risk it. It is better to buy a ready-made service or install full-fledged gateways for organizing secure Internet access - Traffic Inspector or Traffic Inspector Next Generation, in which SMS identification is already configured and ready to use. At your service is also an antivirus, a shaper for distributing the Internet between visitors and a system for protection against hacking of corporate computers from the outside.