ROMAN ZAKHAROV v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
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137. Communications service providers must ensure that the
interception subject remains unaware of the interception of his
communications. Information about ongoing or past interceptions must be
protected from unauthorised access by the employees of the
communications service providers (paragraph 9).
(e) Order no. 73
138. Order no. 73 on requirements for telecommunications networks
concerning the conduct of operational-search activities, Part II, issued by the
Ministry of Communications on 27 May 2010, elaborates on certain
requirements contained in Order no. 6. In particular, it provides that the
equipment installed by communications service providers must ensure that
agencies performing operational-search activities have access to all data
transmitted through the telecommunications networks and are capable of
selecting data and transmitting the selected data to its control terminal
(paragraph 2).
III. RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN INSTRUMENTS
A. United Nations
139. Resolution no. 68/167, on The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age,
adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2013, reads as follows:
“The General Assembly,
...
4. Calls upon all States:
...
(c) To review their procedures, practices and legislation regarding the surveillance
of communications, their interception and the collection of personal data, including
mass surveillance, interception and collection, with a view to upholding the right to
privacy by ensuring the full and effective implementation of all their obligations under
international human rights law;
(d) To establish or maintain existing independent, effective domestic oversight
mechanisms capable of ensuring transparency, as appropriate, and accountability for
State surveillance of communications, their interception and the collection of personal
data;
...”
B. Council of Europe
140. The Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to
Automatic Processing of Personal Data of 28 January 1981 (ETS 108) sets
out standards for data protection in the sphere of automatic processing of