Russia to install 'spy app' to snoop on its own citizens, says report amid WhatsApp ban talk

Russia is on the verge of installing a brand new messenger app on all new digital devices, so that it can spy on the Russian public, according to experts. The app named Max was launched in March this year and by September end it will be activated on all new devices, thus expanding Russia's capacity to spy on its public, reported The Independent.

The app will not only allow messaging and video calls, but will have access to government services and mobile payments, reported the media outlet, citing analysts.

Experts, however, believe that behind the app's playful white-and-blue logo is Russia's “spy programme” that will allow Federal Security Service (FSB) a rigid surveillance of Russian citizens.

The servers of the app called Max will be based in Russia and will be subject to Russian laws that grant FSB access to certain materials.

The new app is likely to pave way for a ban on WhatsApp, the global messenger app, used by 70 per cent of Russians, said Mark Galeotti, a veteran observer of Russian security and politics and director of Mayak Intelligence to The Independent.

Experts are also of the view that the app developed on Vladimir Putin’s orders is just another step in Russia's attempt under the president to monitor the entire Russian online sphere.

“This is a normalisation of Russia's surveillance of its internet use… it's part of a long, long process,” Keir Giles, author of Russia’s War on Everybody, told The Independent.

“The perceived threat from Western communications technology is not something that's new. It's something that has always been a focus for the Russian security services," Giles added.

Western communications technologies like Google, Skype and Hotmail, have always been looked at as a threat to Russian security and therefore Putin is frustrated by the use of such apps by its citizens. WhatsApp, was the only app to have avoided the Russian crackdown so far, as more than 70 per cent of people in Russia used it.

“The Russian state looks keen to be using sticks rather than carrots by either banning or putting restrictions on WhatsApp and possibly also [messaging service] Telegram in the future, just to kind of drive people towards Max," Prof Galeotti said.