Major Russian companies have been conscripted into a “witch-hunt” against users trying to circumvent online controls, researchers said, as the Kremlin continues trying to cut its citizens off from the global internet. Banks and web platforms are collecting data on users of virtual private network (VPN) tools- software that obscures a user’s real location and allows access to sites blocked in Russia- according to an investigation by RKS Global, an advocacy group for internet freedoms.
The investigation analysed 30 popular Russian apps, including those run by T-Bank, Sberbank, the search engine Yandex and the social media platform VKontakte. It found that 22 of those apps actively detected whether a user was on a VPN or even had one merely installed
on their phone and most retained that data on their servers, where it could be accessed by security services.
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“The level of intrusion into the device can be very high. Any Android app released by Russian companies for the Russian market may now be spying,” as per the report.
Why Are Russian Using VPNs In The First Place?
Tens of millions of Russians use VPNs to access the global internet. This number grew dramatically at the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 after the Kremlin introduced sweeping bans on platforms including Facebook and Instagram. For many, VPNs became the only reliable window onto independent news and global social media.
It is not formally illegal in Russia to use a VPN- businesses and state agencies still rely on them but activities surrounding VPN use are becoming increasingly criminalised. This year, Russian courts have begun to treat VPN use as an aggravating circumstance in criminal prosecutions, raising the stakes for millions of ordinary users.
Mazay Banzaev, founder of Amnezia, an open-source VPN company, warned that the new surveillance regime goes further than catching someone browsing with a VPN active.
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“It’s one thing if Russian IT companies were to ‘catch’ users the moment they visit a site with a VPN enabled,” he said, adding, “It is quite another when even a closed application continues scanning the phone for VPN usage.”
What Does Russia’s Broader Internet Crackdown Look Like?
Over the past year, authorities have embarked on a gradual effort to throttle the global internet. The campaign began with mobile network blackouts across large swathes of the country- later spreading to Moscow and St. Petersburg- forcing some Russians to buy paper maps and pagers to navigate daily life.
Beginning in March, authorities moved to block Telegram, a messaging app that had become essential to communication across the country. The apparent goal is to push most Russians onto a government-controlled “superapp” called Max, which is believed to carry broad surveillance capabilities. Max has been aggressively promoted, leaving many users with little practical choice but to install it.
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