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Russia To Enforce Location Tracking App On All Foreigners in Moscow (bleepingcomputer.com) 79

Posted by msmash from the when-in-Moscow dept.
The Russian government has introduced a new law that makes installing a tracking app mandatory for all foreign nationals in the Moscow region. From a report: The new proposal was announced by the chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, who presented it as a measure to tackle migrant crimes. "The adopted mechanism will allow, using modern technologies, to strengthen control in the field of migration and will also contribute to reducing the number of violations and crimes in this area," stated Volodin.

Using a mobile application that all foreigners will have to install on their smartphones, the Russian state will receive the following information: Residence location, fingerprint, face photograph, real-time geo-location monitoring.

Russia To Enforce Location Tracking App On All Foreigners in Moscow More | Reply

Russia To Enforce Location Tracking App On All Foreigners in Moscow

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  • Will they cover the roaming fees?
    What will happen to people with phones set to NO roaming?

    • Burner phones are already recommended for visitors to the USA and Russia. Now for yet another reason.
    • Not that I'd want to go to Russia anytime in the foreseeable future....but I think if I did, I'd not take a smart phone...only maybe a flip phone at most?

      Maybe just buy one when you get there?

      • This is what I was thinking.

        Given the state of border security everywhere, I would just travel internationally with a flip phone.

    • What about people with no smart phones? If I wanted visit (which I don't) sure I would be quite happy to leave my phone lying on the desk, how would that track me at all, maybe it has a motion sensor in that case I can just give it so someone else to walk round with. Honestly I think this just a way to track innocent people anyone who wants to commit a crime will get around this.

      • You think that's somehow their problem? If you don't have a device with the app on it on you, you're breaking the law and will be thrown into jail.
        What are you going to do, huh?

    • They'll probably charge you more for roaming.
      And throw in you jail if you don't follow their rules.

      I don't know why people are even going to Russia anymore.

    • Travelling to foreign countries is not your right. Foreign governments can ask you to be vaccinated, to have a traveller insurance, to purchase the return flight in advance and can charge arbitrary values for a tourist visa. These are your costs for you to fund if you want to visit them. Russia now added the requirement to own a smartphone and to pay for roaming. This part is totally fine, it's even a good idea.

    • Arrest, court, penal colony.

  • I get it! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by TheMiddleRoad ( 1153113 ) on Thursday May 22, 2025 @12:43PM (#65396059)

    That way they can grab you, hand you an 80-year-old rifle, and then send you to the front lines of Ukraine. But hey, the SKS ain't a bad gun. Kind of sucks against drones, though.

    Anybody who goes to Russia is a dumbfuck who gets what they deserve.

    • This! one THOUSAND times. Mod up !

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by rossdee ( 243626 )

      They might run out of AK's and SKS's
      You'll probably end up with a Mosin-Nagant bolt action

      • At least it wont jam

        • Have you seen the ammo they're issuing at times?
          I wouldn't count on it not jamming due to how corroded a lot of the ammo is.

      • The Mosin-Nagant does hit a lot harder than an SKS, but the SKS is so cute and small and light.

        I picked up an AR-10 with nice Nikon glass on it. The fucker weighed about 15 lbs. I'd rather have the SKS. I put it down and found a AR15-based 308 in another store. Weighs about 8 lbs with some smaller, lighter glass. Much nicer.

    • Calling tourists and intellectuals interested in historical signifigance "dumbfucks" is more of a reflection on you. Regimes come and go along with their bs policies.

      • Re: I get it! (Score:5, Informative)

        by Pentium100 ( 1240090 ) on Thursday May 22, 2025 @01:31PM (#65396229)

        Going to a country ruled by a totalitarian government, country that is currently at war that does not go as well as planned (I really do not think the plan was for the war to last this long), a country where the government says that it hates the West.

        Yeah, if you are from the West and go there, it really has to be extremely important to risk your freedom and life. Or you are just stupid.

        Similar to people who go to North Korea and do something other than strictly following the instructions of the guide.

      • If you are a tourist / intellectual entering a hostile nation with a provable record of human rights violations, you get what you get. It's no different than flying to any other hostile nation such as North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, or Iran.

        As you say, Regimes come and go. So if you are in any way wise, you will wait for the current regime to go before going to Russia. I mean, how many US citizens need to be held hostage^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H arrested on bullshit charges and detained in a gulag indefini

        • If you are a tourist / intellectual entering a hostile nation with a provable record of human rights violations, you get what you get. It's no different than flying to any other hostile nation such as North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, or Iran.

          ... the U.S. Though, to be fair, while the Customer Service and amenities are lacking, if you're coming into the U.S. *from* Venezuela, ICE can arrange and pay for your ticket home, so free return flight?

      • Calling tourists and intellectuals interested in historical signifigance "dumbfucks" is more of a reflection on you. Regimes come and go along with their bs policies.

        Uh.. DO THEY?

        I mean fair point, I've got nothing against Russia or Russians and the country has a lot of valuable history, but the regime that got them into this mess has been in power an awful long time. Will Russian tourism will be viable before beach resorts on Mars, could you make that happen?

      • I can be a tourist and learn things of historical significance without heading into a dystopian hellscape where I could be kidnapped and held for ransom to gain the return of a mass murderer. Regimes come and go, but anybody who goes to Russia is a dumbfuck, including all the Africans and Indians who head there for promised jobs and end up on the front lines in Ukraine.

      • If these intellectuals have any intelligence, they will wait until Putin's and Putinoid regimes fall. Which might never happen, at least in the foreseeable future.

        Of course, a big exception is made for these intellectuals who serve as Russia's fifth column in their countries.

    • Trump is eager to go to Russia, isn't he?

      • I'll happily organize a paid-for one-way charter flight if he doesn't come back. Shouldn't be a problem to raise the funds from like-minded individuals.

        We'll even pay for the fuel for that brobdingnagian monstrosity of a dictator jet the Qataris just "gave" the Air Force to give him the ride - good for one ride only.

  • Mysteriously foreigners with expensive and fine goods will find themselves routinely mugged by peeps with access to this dataâ¦

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by tokul ( 682258 )

      As if installing unsigned software by authoritarian warmonger on your smart phone was not a problem.

  • It's a shame (Score:5, Insightful)

    by skam240 ( 789197 ) on Thursday May 22, 2025 @12:47PM (#65396079)

    It's a shame Russia has made itself such a massively undesirable place for me to go because I would love to go check out the history, old architecture, and whatnot. Plus, I remember hearing about the Russians being quite welcoming to Westerners right around the turn of the century and were a lot of fun to hang out with.

    Between their invasion of Ukraine, the political environment, and their habit of taking American hostages to swap for international arms dealers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] , I guess I missed my window.

    • Russians really are like Lavrov, who has a distinction as the grumpiest diplomat. I cannot imagine any Russians as being fun to hang out with.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by nealric ( 3647765 )

      My wife travelled the trans-Siberian railway around 15 years ago. She said Russia is still by far the least favorite place she's ever been. Everyone was rude and standoffish. Service quality was poor. I'm sure individual Russians can be nice and welcoming, but it wasn't very welcoming to Americans then. She loved Kazakhstan though.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Never having been I certainly cant say for myself but I remember the teacher of a Russian history class I took in college having extremely positive things to say about hanging out with Russians. Maybe he got along well because he spoke the language?

        *shrug* I'm not going there either way nowadays so I suppose it doesnt matter anyways.

      • Standoffish you say? Well, she's clearly never been to Morocco then (or other Muslim majority countries I assume), where both the men and women would spit on her (or worse) for being in public with their hair uncovered and/or unaccompanied by a man.
        • I'd say you haven't been to Morocco either. They are quite a liberal and progressive country, women regularly go without hair coverings, and don't need to be escorted by a male relation at all. In fact the majority of 'Muslim majority countries', i.e. Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Lebanon, Jordan... etc are similar. The main current exeption is Iran.. which I'd argue is more due to their totalitarian regime trying to oppress women, than for any strictly religious reasons.

        • A bad experience doesn't invalidate other bad experiences.

    • Most Russians are likely still that way. I'm not going to claim to be the most well traveled person on the planet, but everywhere I've ever been common people there were not very different from common people here: generally friendly and curios and happy to meet outsiders and show off some of their local specialties. Be nice to other people and respect the customs of the countries where you are a guest and you'll find yourself well treated wherever you go.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Absolutely. One of my favorite things about foreign travel is meeting new people; it's why I tend to spend a lot of time in a small number of places when I travel abroad. The novelty factor of being a foreigner typically works really well for me in regards to meeting others. That and the fact that I'm usually pretty enthusiastic about experiencing their culture, food, etc.

        I do have a few countries though I like more than others based off my social experiences. For some reason whenever I go to Europe I end u

    • None of us get out of our experience on Earth alive.

      Putin won't always be there. There are some immutable laws he can't strongarm the Duma into changing, and death is one of them.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Oh I havent given up hope for Russia!

        China seems like more of a long shot though. There is so much about that country I would like to see and experience but I find their government as scary as Russia's and I don't see that changing when Xi eventually dies.

      • Death, out friend .. worked beautifully in North Korea, Venezuela, Turkmenistan... not.

        Arguably, when uncle Pu dies, someone even worse is likely to replace him. Just take a look at some Medvedev quotes.

    • I have been a couple of times, A total of 3 weeks there in Moscow and St Petersburg. It's an interesting place to visit but you will get a similar experience visiting other eastern European countries without the hassle. I found the Russian people to be fine with a somewhat dark sense of humour. The food is ok, A good number of the people I encountered spoke some English. I was quite comfortable there. I wouldn't visit now though and would instead save my money and visit Ukraine when the war has ended, Spe

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        I wouldn't visit now though and would instead save my money and visit Ukraine when the war has ended, Spend my holiday cash there.

        Those are my thoughts on the matter too. I hear spring is beautiful un Ukraine and yeah, once this war is over they'll likely be happy for the tourist dollars and I'll be happy to be spending my money there.

    • It's a shame Putin has made Russia such a massively undesirable place ...

      Fixed that for you.

    • The Russian ex-pats in my area are very nice people. There is a Russian family-owned and operated restaurant here. Great food. Good vodka. Friendly people.

      They used to make regular trips "back home" to visit family. They would always bring back bottles of "real" vodka to share. They don't dare make the trip the past several years. They said they were afraid they would not be allowed to leave if they did.

  • Coming Soon to a Western Democracy Near You (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Tokolosh ( 1256448 ) on Thursday May 22, 2025 @01:14PM (#65396195)

    I predict the UK will go first, followed by Hungary, Germany, France, Italy. The USA will not change, because the Americans are being tracked already.
    https://theintercept.com/2025/... [theintercept.com]
    https://www.theregister.com/20... [theregister.com]

  • Couldn't this be circumvented by bringing two phones to Russia?

    1. Give phone #1 to the Russians to install the tracking app.
    2. Once you are back at your hotel, power down your phone and place it inside some sort of Faraday Cage-like device.
    3. Power on your second, spyware free phone.
    4. Profit ???

    • 5) Get stopped by police for a random check, because as a tourist you stick out like a sore thumb
      6) Fail to show the app on your phone
      7) Your new career is pounding rocks in Siberia. Or perhaps joining a Z Storm battalion in Ukraine.

    • So you think that they want to go through the effort of installing a tracking software on your phone, but they won't be curious as to why it went to the address you're staying at (also marked on your customs entry form) and then the device stops checking in ever again?

      Even some low-paid authoritarian functionary will figure that one out, and I have a feeling they won't be nearly as dainty as US law enforcement about respecting your rights.

    • Re:Bring 2 phones to Russia? (Score:5, Informative)

      by ChatHuant ( 801522 ) on Thursday May 22, 2025 @01:53PM (#65396301)

      power down your phone and place it inside some sort of Faraday Cage-like device.

      I was born in an Eastern European country and lived there until after the fall of communism. Your message is typical of a form of Western naivety I often see from people who haven't experienced life in a dictatorship - communist or otherwise.

      Your hack will not work. The loss of regular reports from the application will surely be seen as proof of spying. You may not even use a Faraday cage, and just leave your phone in the hotel room; somebody will see your location doesn't change, and check with the hotel personnel, who will report on your comings and goings. Leaving the phone in the room will also be seen as proof of spying. You'll face some unpleasant days, after which, with luck, you'll only get expulsion. If however some local official doesn't like your face, or wants to look good reporting to his superiors, you may risk even worse consequences.

    • 5) answer knock on door when FSB shows up at hotel to inquire as to why you immediately powered down your phone, and have been seen outside of the hotel.

    • That might be a problem if they discover the 2nd phone during the customs inspection.

      Some sort of dual-boot phone where you can have it running image 1 when you go through customs and install it and image 2 after a reboot.

      And I'm a big fan of misdirection actually. The last thing you want to do is put the phone in a Faraday cage, because that means that you're officially untracked, so they might come looking for you. I'd argue that it would be better to plug it in to charge next to a device playing "sleep

    • Or, just don't travel to Russia with a smart phone. (or don't travel to Russia at all...)

    • from TFA:

      > Foreigners attempting to avoid their obligation in relation to the new law will be added to a registry of monitored individuals and deported from Russia.

      So they don't care HOW you are trying to work around the law; if they have (or invent) any reason to believe you are TRYING to work around it, you will be deported.

  • ...about all your messages, photos and any other data on your phone. Then, having your biometrics and text-intercept technology on your phone, they can get into all your online accounts, too.

  • In Russia, phone calls you. Ok, not a good one, but this story is just ripe for one of these "in Russia" jokes. Please offer yours in your reply.

  • Yet another reason (Score:4, Informative)

    by necro81 ( 917438 ) on Thursday May 22, 2025 @01:54PM (#65396307) Journal
    Yet another reason, as though I needed one, to not visit Russia. Bummer, too: I would like to go, see, hear, and learn - but it's simply impossible these days. Maybe after a regime change.

  • If any Russian spy gets caught - they can just grab an imprison the closest citizen of the country that did it and then exchange them for the spy..

  • Fascism at work (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by gweihir ( 88907 )

    I am sure the orange felon will feel inspired though and try to do the same.

    Oh, and wasn't his last project something like "Golden Dome" or "Golden Shower"? I hear he likes the latter ...

  • I could not care less... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    As a matter of principle, I do not visit dictatorships, for any reason whatsoever.

    I matters not how nice the destinations are in Turkey. As long as Erdogan and his ilk are in power, I am not setting foot there.

    Same goes for Russia and a bunch of others, these days including the US, by the way. It is not quite a dictatorship just yet, but the people currently in charge would definitely like to make it one.

    Oh, well. One can hope that the citizens of these countries will eventually decide to rise up and kick t

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      As a matter of principle, I do not visit dictatorships, for any reason whatsoever.

      See, that's why a lot of people won't visit US anymore.

  • In the US, our Government tracks our citizens as well. We just don't need anything as clunky as an app to do it.

  • So they can better be seen.

  • Is that foreigners without smart phones can no longer enter the city?

  • The program is for Foreign Nationals in Moscow,
    ie. people who live or work in Moscow, but are not Russians.

    This program has nothing to do with tourists.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ogive17 ( 691899 )
      Yes - because Russia is known for their fair and just interpretation of laws.

      Sounds like a solution in search of a problem. Or a way to justify deporting those law breaking migrants to the front lines in Ukraine.

    • "Foreign nationals in Moscow" doesn't mean what you wrote. Neither in English, nor in Russian. Maybe you should learn the meaning of "i.e."?

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