Russia Upgrades Digital Surveillance System SORM
Russia has spent decades building one of the world's most sophisticated digital surveillance systems, known as SORM. The Kremlin is now taking steps to make it faster, more automated, and better integrated across the country's internet infrastructure.
SORM gives Russia's security and intelligence agencies access to telephone calls, internet traffic, and other electronic communications passing through domestic networks. New regulations published by Russia's Ministry of Digital Development updated the technical standards governing SORM, formally known as the System for Operative Investigative Activities.
New Regulations and Expanded Searchable Data
According to Timofei Dubrovskikh, a researcher at digital rights nonprofit RKS Global, the updated rules specify how information must be searched, processed, and transmitted. The authorities also expanded the range of searchable data available within the system, including full names, passport information, tax identification numbers, addresses, usernames, domains, URLs, corporate records, device identifiers, and geographic coordinates.
Dubrovskikh noted that the primary value of the system lies not in intercepting the content of communications itself but in constructing comprehensive digital profiles that connect phone numbers, SIM cards, devices, IP addresses, user accounts, and locations into a single searchable network.
More Control, Less Dissent
The Ministry of Digital Development said the new rules are necessary to support national security. However, privacy advocates argue that the changes will further strengthen the government's already far-reaching ability to monitor people's digital activity.
Natalia Krapiva, senior tech counsel at digital rights group Access Now, stated that the new requirements appear intended to reinforce the perception that online activity is constantly monitored. Russia has repeatedly experimented with nationwide internet disruptions during periods of political tension, but such outages have proven unpopular even among politically neutral citizens.
Impact on Telecommunications Market and Ordinary Russians
The regulations could reshape Russia's telecommunications market, as complying with SORM requirements requires providers to deploy specialized hardware, storage systems, and dedicated communications infrastructure. This can cost millions of rubles and falls especially hard on smaller internet providers, potentially accelerating consolidation around larger operators with closer ties to the state.
For ordinary Russians, there is little practical way to opt out, as SORM operates within telecommunications infrastructure rather than on users' devices. Virtual private networks (VPNs) may obscure some browsing activity from internet providers but cannot hide the existence of the VPN connection itself, while metadata and network relationships remain visible to authorities.
Broader Impact and Evolution of SORM
The new SORM regulations extend far beyond traditional telecommunications companies, applying to all 'information dissemination organizers' and operators of autonomous systems. This category could encompass hosting providers, data centers, cloud operators, major technology companies, banks, universities, and large corporations that manage their own internet infrastructure.
Dubrovskikh noted that SORM is evolving into a system that can map not only what people say online but also how they connect, move, and interact across the internet. The new regulations strengthen not so much traditional wiretapping as the government's ability to rapidly collect and correlate disparate digital traces, moving SORM closer to functioning as a large-scale surveillance infrastructure.
Source: The Record