Russia Introduces Digital Profiles to Track Citizens

The Russian government plans to digitally track its citizens as part of an ambitious economic digitization program. Dmitry Kuznetsov, head of Information Technologies of the Russian Pension Fund, outlined these plans at a conference on September 27. TASS news agency reported that Kuznetzov estimated that 80 percent of Russians will have digitized profiles by 2025.

Approved by a presidential decree in July 2017, Russia’s comprehensive $53 million Digital Economy Program aims to develop and promote wide-ranging new technologies that will apply to many aspects of everyday life. MediaLeaks.ru reported that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated that the program will ensure global competitiveness and national security.

According to TASS, the multi-pronged program emphasizes government regulation, education, cybersecurity, information infrastructure, and research. Drawing the most attention, however, has been the program’s intention to track the personal development trajectory of Russian citizens, per the Moscow Times. “Every achievement in a person’s life – the misses, mistakes, big projects – will be recorded,” explained Kuznetzov.

The personal development trajectory of every citizen will exist in the digital world from birth onwards in the form of digital profiles, according to MediaLeaks.ru. Maintained by the government, the profiles will be available to academic institutions, potential employers, and other major organizations.

These trajectories will be used to assess skills and develop talents within the education system, reports MediaLeaks.ru. Upon graduation, the compiled personal data is transferred to the employer, who will use the digital profile to track successes and failures.

These plans remain in their infancy; whether or not the Russian government can execute them successfully remains to be seen.