MOSCOW, August 17 (RAPSI) — A magistrate court in Moscow has fined Australia-based company that operates a freelance marketplace website Freelancer.com 500,000 rubles (about $8,000) for violating personal data legislation, the case records show.

The court in the Tagansky District of Moscow found that Freelancer International Pty Limited committed an administrative offense. The company failed to comply with the statutory requirement to store the personal data of Russian users in databases on Russian territory.

Under the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses, fines for this violation may reach 6 million rubles (about $100,000 at the current exchange rate).

The Russian law on personal data requires that Russian and foreign companies stored and operated with the data of Russian users only within the national territory of the country even if such entities are not physically present and do not operate in Russia.