COMMUNICATION PRIVACY RESTRICTIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The work is devoted to the issues of restricting the privacy of communication which is an
integral part of privacy, a necessary condition for freedom of speech and for trust in
communication services, and is crucial for the development of the information society. In the
context of the pandemic, it became possible to restrict the confidentiality of communication
in the context of geolocating people through their mobile devices based on data from mobile
operators. Therefore, it is important to note the essential conditions for restricting the right to
privacy of communication in order to avoid unjustified violation of universally recognized
fundamental human rights.
The work discusses the issue of geolocating a person via their mobile phone, as well as legal
regulation and judicial practice regarding the restriction of the right to privacy of
communication in Europe and Russia. Anonymization as a necessary condition for processing
personal data, including the privacy of communication, is also considered.
The methodological basis of the study comprised dialectical, formal-legal, comparative
methods, induction and analysis method.
As a result, conclusions were drawn on the similarity of the legal regulation of the privacy of
communication in Europe and Russia, on the possibility of restricting the right to privacy of
communication at the legislative level, subject to the principles of proportionality, necessity
and temporary nature of such restrictions caused by the pandemic, as well as on the legality
1850
of processing communication data (data on the location of users of communication services)
on condition of anonymity, provided that it is impossible to deanonymize the data.