Russian tax authority setting up database

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 26 Jul 2019 by Alex Teddy

On July 24 it was announced that the Russian Parliament is seeking to create a database of all people in Russia. The database will reveal family connections. It is to be launched in 2022 and completed in 2025. The ostensible ground for doing this is that it will facilitate tax collection. However, the database will clearly have other applications too. This will make calling men to compulsory military service a simpler task. The affluent are often able to evade military service by bribing a doctor to certify them as permanently medically unfit for the army. However, this is not as cheap and risk free as it used to be. The new database will also speed up the census. The database will be accessible by various government agencies.Dissidents are worried that the database is yet another extension of the surveillance state. It will make it easy for the state to identify dissidents' relatives and to victimize them. Tellingly, the intelligence services are tasked with creating the database. But the tax authorities will be mandated to maintain its integrity. There are also concerns that corrupt bureaucrats might sell information to criminals.

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