Mazhilis deputy Yekaterina Smyshlyayeva has stated the need to review approaches to the use of digital platforms and messaging apps in Kazakhstan. According to her, the widespread use of foreign digital services in the provision of public and state services creates risks for the protection of personal data, digital sovereignty, and fair competition in the market.
According to IAA Kazinform, Smyshlyayeva drew attention to the rapid penetration of digital technologies into the daily lives of Kazakhstani citizens. This year, the number of internet subscribers in the country reached 19.2 million people, smartphone penetration approached 100%, and the number of social media users amounted to around 16 million, an increase of 11.2% over the year.
As the deputy noted, the largest marketplaces process up to 5 million requests per month, the range of online services on the eGov portal is expanding, and messaging apps have become key infrastructure for everyday communication.
“Calls from bank managers, push notifications, educational content on social media, doctors’ blogs, marketing and sales — digital communication is everywhere now. A special genre of this communication is group chats. The school chat has replaced the playground, the parent chat has almost done away with meetings, and building chats have become centres of local democracy. Work correspondence has moved to messaging apps, and we entrust family groups with our most private matters,” said the deputy.
She emphasised that the majority of digital platforms and messaging apps used in Kazakhstan are foreign and do not comply with the requirements of national legislation.
“This creates risks of losing control over citizens’ personal data, limiting opportunities for legal protection of users, making public and socially significant processes dependent on foreign digital jurisdictions, and creating unequal conditions for competition for law-abiding digital solutions,” Smyshlyayeva stated.
At the same time, the deputy reported that domestic digital products have already been developed in Kazakhstan. Among them, she named the locally adapted Aitu messenger, e-government ecosystem services, electronic document management systems, accounting systems, as well as other solutions included in the register of trusted digital objects.
However, according to Smyshlyayeva, state demand for such solutions has not yet been realised.
“Preferences in public procurement continue to be given to unverified products, the register is ignored, and technical specifications are even drafted to suit specific foreign vendors. With this approach, the use of untrusted services in the performance of public and state functions remains high,” the deputy said.
In this regard, Yekaterina Smyshlyayeva proposed:
- treat digital platforms and mass communication messaging apps as subjects of public interest;
- ensure real priority for solutions from the register of trusted digital objects for the state and quasi-state sector;
- eliminate the orientation of public procurement towards individual foreign products by strengthening control over technical specifications and revising the register classifier;
- introduce economic and managerial incentives for the use of law-abiding digital platforms and messaging apps;
- consider the recommended pre-installation of domestic digital services and their promotion in digital ecosystems and app stores;
- ensure equal application of legislation requirements on cybersecurity and personal data protection for all market participants.
It will be recalled that in August it was reported that by 15 September, all state bodies and quasi-state sector organisations in Kazakhstan were to have completed their transition to the domestic Aitu messenger for official correspondence.
In October, Kazakh marketer Alimzhan Bissembayev calculated that the widespread introduction of the Aitu messenger in the state sector could cost the budget over $1 billion per year due to mandatory compensation for the use of employees' personal smartphones.