Wi-Fi log retention: what they ask for about your guests during an inspection

Authorizing the guest is only half the job. The other half starts when a request arrives: "show us who was connected to your network on this date". Here is what has to be stored, for how long, and in what form.

The connection log, and why authorization is pointless without it

A connection log is the record of sessions on your guest network: who connected, when, from which device. The point of identifying a user is being able to tie a session back to a person after the fact. If the guest enters a number, gets an SMS code and connects but nothing is stored, the result from an inspector’s point of view is the same as an open network. The identification requirement itself is covered separately — see the legal requirements for guest Wi-Fi authorization.

Which fields the log needs

• The confirmed subscriber number or another identifier the guest authorized with
• Session start and end time
• Device network identifiers: MAC address and the issued IP
• Access point or zone, if the venue has several
• Authorization method: SMS, voucher, eGov, digital ID

Note that this is session metadata, not traffic contents. Reading your guests’ messages is neither required nor wanted.

How long to keep it

The exact period is set by communications legislation and the requirements of the authorities, and the wording of the secondary acts in Kazakhstan has been re-approved several times. The practical conclusion for a venue owner is simple: the log has to exist continuously and must not be wiped automatically after a week. Confirm the current period with a lawyer and check adilet.zan.kz.

Who can request it, and how

Administrative inspection. State oversight of communications is carried out by the authorised body of the relevant ministry. The subject here is whether user identification is organised at all.

A request for connection data. Bodies conducting operational-search activity, including national security bodies, may request data about connections to your network. Answer a written request in writing, within the stated deadline.

There is no scheduled sweep of cafes and hotels; in practice it starts with a complaint, an enquiry or an incident. The step-by-step procedure is collected on the page about legal requirements and inspections.

Common failures

• A paper notebook at reception. Proves no link between a given session and a given user
• Logs only on the router. A reboot or reset and they are gone; what the hardware can actually do is covered in the router guide for Wi-Fi authorization
• Guest and work network in one segment. See guest network isolation
• No export. The data seems to be there, but nobody can pull it for a given period

How TheLink handles it

Every authorization — SMS, voucher or Aitu Passport — is written to the cloud together with the session time and the device network identifiers. The log does not depend on the router staying up, is available from the dashboard and exports for any period. For cafes and restaurants that closes the question in one setup; for hotels it comes with the session tied to the room number.

Owner’s checklist

• Guests get access only after confirming their identity
• Every session is logged: identifier, time, device
• The log lives outside the router and is not wiped automatically
• Exporting an arbitrary period takes minutes
• The guest network is separated from the working one

This material is for reference and is not legal advice: check the current wording on adilet.zan.kz.