Advised a large Chinese manufacturer of construction machinery on how sensitive software should be used in Russia

The practice’s team provided legal support to China's largest manufacturer of construction machinery when it was entering the Russian market. The client needed to find out whether it was permissible to install software to gather information regarding the geographical location, condition and use on machinery that was to be supplied to Russia, and whether such data could be transmitted to the company's headquarters in China. Moreover, the client’s equipment may be used also at high-security facilities.

During the project, our lawyers analysed technical aspects of how the software was supposed to be used. They also determined the requirements of Russian legislation pertaining to how information, state secrets included, should be safeguarded. Consequently, the client received a detailed legal memo describing all potential risks associated with how the software could be used, as well as recommendations for how such risks could be mitigated.

If information had been unlawfully collected by way of the software being used, this could have resulted in administrative, and in some cases in criminal liability, being imposed on the client. Owing to the integrated analysis that our team conducted and the recommendations we provided, the client managed to mitigate and partially exclude the potential risks, including to its reputation.