Russia's Transport Ministry denies plans to expand trip data collection
Russia's Transport Ministry says it has no plans to change how carriers' data on passengers' trips is stored, insisting that a proposal only concerns sharing anonymized ticket-price data with the state statistics agency. This contradicts an earlier report by outlet Verstka about broader data collection plans.
Russia's Transport Ministry has denied plans to change the rules governing how carriers store and process data on Russians' trips that they submit to the state. The denial follows a report by the outlet Verstka, which cited a draft ministry order describing plans to expand the scope of data collected.
According to Verstka's reporting, the draft order would require carriers to submit data not only on planned trips but also on trips actually taken. This information would be held in a database accessible to law enforcement and security agencies within half an hour of a trip's completion.
Ministry's response
A Transport Ministry representative told the state news agency TASS that the ministry is instead proposing to share only anonymized data with Rosstat, Russia's state statistics agency, specifically to monitor plane and train ticket prices. Rosstat confirmed it would use this anonymized data solely for statistical purposes.
The ministry's statement effectively disputes the core claim in Verstka's report — that authorities were planning to collect more detailed trip data accessible to security services.
