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Scandal scares Russia after leaking important figures
Thousands of residents of the wealthy Russian capital, Moscow, were surprised by the leaking of their personal data and posting it on the Internet after they signed up for a local Internet service provider. Leaked data included the names, addresses and phone numbers of subscribers.
All those affected by the leaks are clients of Moscow-based Akado Telecom, a major communications network owned by billionaire Victor Vickselberg, which provides services in high-end areas of the rich.
Russian authorities have paid close attention to such incidents, after earlier leaks of information about military intelligence agents accused of involvement in an attack on former Russian spy Sergey Scrippel in Britain.
Reuters saw hundreds of records on an international database and monitored data including mobile phone numbers, addresses of a senior Russian government official, a well-known filmmaker and a relative of a prominent businessman.
Akadu Telecom said it had opened an internal investigation into the matter, but did not say whether it knew the data on its customers had been made wrong, or whether the company had provided that information to the database.
Under Russian law, the publication of personal data was illegal since 2006 and companies violating the law could pay fines of up to 50,000 rubles ($ 756).