Today, wi-fi networks cover most of the territory of cities: there are access points in all in public places, shopping centers, institutions. Free Internet is available in subway cars and even airplanes.
However, the increasing cases of using open Internet networks for illegal purposes (fraudulent, corrupt), the growth of terrorist activity in the world and other factors were a prerequisite for the creation of a law on the procedure for providing access to wi-fi in public places.
Basic provisions
For the first time in Europe, a similar law was adopted in Italy, which lasted until 2013. In Russia, people started talking about “Wi-Fi with a passport” in 2014. Small establishments began to gradually refuse to provide free service wireless internet access for visitors.
Check out latest changes in law no. 152. Details
On May 5, 2014, Law N97-FZ was adopted in Russia, the provisions of which were reduced to streamlining the exchange of information using information and telecommunication networks (Internet). Based on its provisions, amendments were made to many normative acts from the field of communications and communications:
- Federal Law No. 149 “On information, information technology and on the protection of information”;
- Law N 152-FZ "On Personal Data", etc.
Amendments to the law on providing access to wi-fi in public places were developed by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications together with several departments: the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Economic Development.
Read more about the law on the FSB in the article
Later, the Government of the Russian Federation approved a number of resolutions, including a set of measures practical implementation provisions of the law on granting access to free internet in public places.
Authorization procedure in public Wi-Fi networks
According to the text of Government Decree N 758 of July 31, 2014 and N 801 of August 12 of the same year, which expanded the previous possibilities for identifying subscribers when accessing wi-fi networks in public places, as well as subsequent clarifications from the Ministry of Communications, identification of users of public wi networks -fi currently can be done as follows:
- According to a document containing personal data of a person, i.e. identity card (passport, driver's license);
- By number mobile phone;
Additionally:
- With the help of ESIA data ( unified system identification and authentication);
- Through login and password account on the portal public services RF.
Services for identifying users of free Internet access points wi-fi offices, establishments, shops, etc. are provided by providers and IT companies. As part of large-scale restaurant chains, large infrastructure facilities (metro), etc., registration must be completed once, after which the person’s personal data and information about the device are stored in the operator’s database, and access is provided using the previously issued login and password.
Responsibility for providing access to Wi-Fi without identification
For a long time after the adoption of the amendment, there were no penalties in the legislation for violating the rules for identifying users of free public wi-fi networks. Also, questions were not clarified as to who is responsible - on Internet providers or the establishments themselves.
In the departments of the executive authorities themselves, there were also disagreements about who and how will monitor compliance with the provisions of the new law. For this reason, restaurant owners and outlets they were in no hurry to comply with the introduced norms, leaving open access to free Internet for their customers.
Only in July 2016, FZ-374 amended Article 13.30 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation on non-compliance with the requirements of the law by a person acting on behalf of the operator (owners of establishments, administration shopping centers etc.) or by the operator itself in terms of identifying subscribers to access the Internet.
A person who violates the requirement to organize a wi-fi network user identification system faces an administrative fine in the amount of:
- From 2 to 5 thousand rubles for citizens;
- From 5 to 50 - for officials;
- From 100 to 200 thousand rubles. - for organizations and companies.
Repeated violation a ban on providing free access to a wi-fi network without authentication will entail a more severe administrative penalty:
- Fine from 10 to 100 thousand rubles or suspension from entrepreneurial activity for up to 3 years - for individual entrepreneurs;
- Fine from 200 to 300 thousand rubles. - for legal entities.
Download Wi-Fi Law
Even in the process of the introduction of innovations into force, many large operators stated that the requirements introduced into the law are unnecessary. By that time, the giants of the market had long used the system of identifying users of free wireless internet by phone number and without concluding a special agreement with legal entities.
According to Roskomnadzor data as of August 3, 2017, violations related to the lack of a wi-fi user identification system were found in 10% of wireless Internet access points in public places in the first half of the year. For comparison, in 2015 the law was violated in 90% of cases. As noted in the department, "the results indicate a significant increase in discipline on the part of the organizers of the networks."
“On Amendments to the Federal Law on Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection and Certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation on the issues of streamlining the exchange of information using information and telecommunication networks.
08/21/2014 | 13:21 Society
Laws are different. Good and bad. Only one thing they are always similar - the laws eventually cease to be correct.
It was difficult 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 managed 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 not to provide restaurant guests with free Wi-Fi, and do I need to ask for a passport?
Unfortunately, all possible comments and clarifications, as well as resolutions, did not bring clarity. And, of course, any subsequent ones will not contribute either. Which will certainly be.
Therefore, my answer is extremely simple: it is necessary to take and cancel the Decree of July 31, 2014 N 758.
Now let me digress...
Ordinary cafe. Which is connected to the Internet under an agreement - say, with the operator RosTeleBiMTS. The latter unequivocally identified its subscriber LLC Cafe. Cafe LLC uses the Internet for its own needs. And in the meantime sends through the latter also tax reporting. Realizing the fact that during a business lunch in a nearby cafe there are visitors, but they don’t, the cafe management found out the reason. There is free Wi-Fi in the cafe next door!! 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. Rapid mobilization - CEO ordered to eliminate competitive inequality. And in our cafe there is a router that distributes free Wi-Fi. Life got better. Revenue crept up. The clients are happy. Business is on. And here, like a bolt from the blue, Decree No. 758! What to do? Turn off the Internet - lose customers. Do not turn off - break the law. So does the cafe break the law or not? The answer is paradoxical. But that's exactly it: yes and no. It seems like it violated even before the decision, but it seems like it didn’t. And henceforth it seems like it will violate, but it seems like it won't.
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, it is not registered as a communication center), since it only provides the guest with the opportunity to use their Internet connection. The situation is very similar to the one when you plug your charger into the electrical outlet of this same cafe and consume electricity under an agreement between Cafe LLC and Mosenergo, and not under an agreement between you and Cafe LLC.
In this situation, our provider RosTeleBiMTS cannot and should not carry out user identification. Since he should carry out this procedure only when he distributes Wi-Fi. Here, he has one subscriber, and this subscriber is Cafe LLC. The cafe also should not identify anyone and is not obliged to ask for a passport, since it does not provide telematic services and is not a telecom operator. But! According to the same resolution, LLC "Cafe" is obliged once a quarter to transmit a list of persons using its Internet, certified by the director of the cafe. And here comes the puzzle. Naturally, the director will submit an up-to-date staffing, but more simply - a list of cafe employees who regularly use open point WiFi access in a restaurant. Since Cafe LLC is not obliged, unlike the telecom operator, to provide a list of identified client equipment, Cafe LLC provides free access on the Internet for their customers is absolutely legal.
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 the 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 an account on Twitter and mail after the account of the park of culture and recreation 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 applying common sense to the traffic generated by that device.
To achieve at least some effect, you need to build an ecosystem electronic registration each person on the territory of the Russian Federation, namely a person (a citizen and a tourist), each 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 a list of devices.
I really want such “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 still need to think about our cafe. Not so long ago, visitors were banned from smoking in cafes. And now all the customers are running outside. Whether it is good or bad that they banned smoking, it is definitely impossible to say. There are pluses. There are downsides. Breathing in the cafe became easier. It's more comfortable indoors. A plus. The guest runs outside. May get sick. Minus. Together with the guest, the nymph “treat me with a cigarette” quickly runs, which before the adoption of the law for a long time missed a cup of coffee all evening, being in a passive search - is this a plus or a minus? You decide. 😉 But I wonder - when the law was introduced, were the authors for the health or for the illness of citizens? For marriage, family or divorce? Such a good law, but the time will come, and even he, perhaps, will cease to be correct. And what about the laws governing the Internet? Need to think. Think tomorrow when we try to regulate the Internet. And it incites me to write at the end: like it if you are for the abolition of the decision!
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 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 all modern mobile and multimedia devices have such a useful function as Wi-Fi, but, unfortunately, public Wi-Fi can become a dangerous tool in the hands of intruders.
Legislation of the Russian Federation
On May 28, 2015, on the Federal Portal of Draft Regulatory Legal Acts of the Russian Federation, a draft law prepared by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation was published on amending the federal law"On Communications" and the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses (CAO), which propose 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 obligations
According to this document, fines for individual entrepreneurs should be 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 of ten thousand to one hundred thousand rubles or disqualification for up to three years, and by legal entities - a fine of 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 Federal Security Service of Russia and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, intends to oblige 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. For violation of the identification procedure, it is proposed to establish administrative liability, starting from the first quarter of 2016.
The absence on the part of the subscriber of the user identification procedure at 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 by the telecom operator of the agreement on the provision of services for access to the Internet network due to violation of its provisions.
Identification methods
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 758 dated July 31, 2014 “On Amendments to Certain Government Acts Russian Federation in connection with the adoption of the Federal Law "On Amendments to the Federal Law "On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection" and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation on the issues of streamlining the exchange of information using information and telecommunication networks" introduced mandatory user identification (full name) and their equipment connected to the Wi-Fi network (MAC address).
RF GD No. 801 dated August 12, 2014 expanded the possibilities for identifying subscribers of public networks. As a result, telecom operators were able to use not only a citizen's passport or mobile phone number for identification, but also to identify it using the data of the Unified Identification and Authentication System (Unified Identification and Authentication System) or using a login and password on the website of public services of the Russian Federation.
Currently, the following methods of identification are allowed by law:
- by an identity document;
- by mobile phone number;
- using an account on the public services portal (ESIA).
We would like to note that user identification by authorization in in social networks is not provided for by the current legislation, this is due to the fact that when registering in social networks, there are no ways to uniquely identify (full name) of the user.
Authorization of Wi-Fi network clients via SMS is a relatively recent technology. Resolutions No. 758, No. 801 of the Government of the Russian Federation force hotspot owners to “record” visitors. The 2014 law radically changed the formulation of the issue of social security. Now access has become much more complicated: customers are asked to enter a lot of additional information.
Owners of public establishments are required to follow the letter of the law. The choice of how to implement the concept of authorization remains with the owner, the technical staff. Can buy finished project by paying subscription fee, or hire a competent expert who personally draws up projects for equipping an object with suitable digital equipment.
Reasons for use
- Compliance with legal requirements. The phone number hypothetically confirms the identity of the citizen.
- Satisfactory speed of the process, convenience. Sometimes the service is paid.
Process mechanics
- The entry policy is determined by the service administrator.
- The home screen (iOS) appears asking you to enter a phone number, or the caller receives a push notification. Sometimes the system will determine the number automatically.
- The user receives a login, password, uses login data.
It is interesting! Sometimes the owners of access points are asked to call. A kind of registration ritual.
February stunned Muscovites with the need to send SMS. August 2015 simplified the procedure for access to the metro for residents of the capital. Registration is carried out in an expedited manner. The subscriber dials a number. An invitation to log in - fills SMS with arbitrary text, presses "Send". Access is granted immediately. Earlier in WiFi networks had to wait for a response.
The message is paid, the cost is charged according to tariff plan mobile operator client. In the summer of 2015, they practiced authentication using a single portal of public services. The downside is the need to enter a login, resource password. The security of the transmission of confidential data is violated. However, most public networks suffer from vulnerabilities.
Connection
The owners of cafes and hotels are assisted by specialized companies and providers. Provide appropriate service. Having paid the declared amount, the owner of a public institution gets the opportunity to identify users via SMS.
- Flexible system advertising tweaks.
- The ability to conduct surveys online in accordance with the law.
- Collection of statistics about authorization, devices, operating systems.
On one's own
Of course, a handy admin is able to personally supply operating system Mikrotik hardware with user-manager packages. Then the adjustment is made according to the user's instructions. A flexible system of parameters is described in the documentation.
Additional services
The above makes it clear: everyone is free to invent 100 additional benefits of organizing public access with identification. The possibilities are limited only by the imagination, the ingenuity of the technical staff, creative managers. Muscovites, bypassing the subway, can now use the search system for private doctors. Remotely in advance collect the queue by phone.
The DocDoc company has supplemented the top carousel menu with a corresponding caption. It is enough to make a click. The user immediately sees a list of nearby clinics, specialists. The information is supplemented by the national rating, price list. Of course, a similar service is available to users mobile applications, Internet visitors. There is no need for those who sign up to visit the subway.
However, the ease of access is commendable. On July 15, 2015, secure access via Wi-Fi completely covered the branches of underground Moscow. Managers vying to offer fresh ideas. It was planned to separate the male and female start pages, apparently taking into account the interests of the categories of the population.
Passengers can tie bank cards When paying for public transport services, annoying ads can be disabled (paid option).
Prices
Market analysis shows that prices are ten times higher than private contracts. The guest house will recoup the costs relatively quickly.
Choice
When giving preference to the offer of the next campaign, evaluate the quality technical support. Sometimes it is difficult to get a response from the operator. Call in advance contact centers try to connect. Cellular operators actively reduce their own spending. Competition…
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