On Wednesday, July 24, the deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the third and final reading adopted amendments to the federal law “On Operational-Search Activity”. The corrections are aimed at simplifying the search for missing children using data from their mobile devices.

The press service of the lower house of parliament explained that if a child is lost, his parents or legal representatives will be able to submit a written application to the police, who must start a search within a day, “including the ability to access the geolocation data of the child’s mobile devices - for example, his phone or tablet. "

“It is allowed to receive information about connections of a subscriber device located in a minor with other subscribers and (or) their subscriber devices, other equipment, as well as the location of this subscriber device by removing information from technical communication channels,” the document says.

Militiamen will have to notify the court about the commencement of such operational investigative measures and receive judicial permission within 48 hours. Otherwise, ongoing actions should be terminated.

The bill passed by the State Duma is sent to the Council of Federation, and if approved it will be submitted for signature to the president.

Commenting on the relevance of the amendments, the State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin had previously noted that providing access to the geolocation data of the phone or tablet of the missing child will seriously speed up his search.

“This time may be invaluable if, for example, a child gets lost, is lost, or trouble has happened to him,” Volodin said.

According to Adalbi Shkhagoshev, member of the State Duma profile committee on security and anti-corruption, the entry into force of this law will allow changing the order of search activities: “not first - papers and approvals, and then a search; and first - search, and then everything else. "

“Immediately, without losing a single second, not a single minute, the search immediately begins from law enforcement agencies ... The point is that, perhaps, we are now warning of many evils that can happen to children. In a few years we will have the opportunity to compare the statistics that we have now and that which will be in the course of implementation of this law, ”the source said.

Earlier, one of the authors of the bill, deputy chairman of the State Duma, Irina Yarovaya, noted that, according to statistics, 10% of all initiated investigative cases are related to the disappearance of minors. Over the past five years alone, law enforcement agencies have reviewed 40 thousand applications for the disappearance of minors.

"Of the 40,000 children, 13% are young children, that is, children who generally find themselves in a helpless position if they are left without the supervision of their elders and in a difficult situation," explained Yarovaya.

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"It's time to use geolocation when searching for children"

According to the head of the Association of Parents' Committees and Communities, Olga Letkova, the organization is very positive about the amendments, as they will expand the ability of law enforcement agencies to search for missing children.

“If this helps the cause, who will be against it?” Of course, we fully and completely support and see no obstacles to realizing this position. It's time to use geolocation when searching for children, ”said Letkova RT.

In turn, the head of the National Parenting Committee Irina Volynets also spoke in support of this initiative, if the rule of law is observed and the parents decide for themselves whether to provide access to the geolocation data of their children's gadgets.

“We have all these innovations are accepted on a voluntary, on a declarative basis. Many parents, by the way, now use geolocation to control their children, organize groups in which they include all family members, and, with the Internet, they have the opportunity to observe who is where they are, ”Volynets RT told.

“Of course, with the consent of the parents, this is good. But parents, if something happens to their child, this consent is given. In any case, the law must be prescribed, otherwise there will be opponents of this initiative, ”the head of the National Parental Committee added.