Moscow magistrates' court fines Australian service Freelancer 500,000 rubles for failure to localize Russian users' data

MOSCOW. Aug 16 (Interfax) - A magistrates' court in Moscow's Tagansky district has fined the Australian service Freelancer 500,000 rubles for breaking the law on localization of personal data of Russian users in Russia, an Interfax correspondent said in a report.

"To impose an administrative fine of 500,000 rubles on the entity," Justice of the Peace Timur Vakhrameyev from Judicial District No. 422 in Moscow's Tagansky district said in his ruling.

The court found Freelancer International Pty Limited in violation of the requirement to localize personal data of Russian users in Russia.

Service representatives told the court that the data had already been localized and asked to terminate the proceedings due to the failure to prove the offense, or give a warning, or impose a punishment below the possible minimum of 1 million rubles, which is what the court did.

Freelancer is an Australian freelance marketplace website that allows potential employers to publish their vacancies to which interested users could respond.