How Russia uses the Max app to spy on its citizens - The Guardian

Tens of millions of Russians have been forced, over the past 18 months, to install the Max app, a messaging and payments platform presented by the authorities as a patriotic alternative to Telegram and WhatsApp. This summer, the app became the most widely used messaging platform in Russia.

Developed by VKontakte, a company with close ties to the Russian state, Max brings together banking services, communications, and government applications in a single ecosystem. Researchers at the University of Michigan claim that the version used in Russia can take screenshots without users’ knowledge, access data from mini-applications, messages, and payments, and impersonate the user.

Professor Roya Ensafi describes the app as a possible “back door” into the entire digital ecosystem and warns that it could even allow code to be injected into mini-applications, creating a risk of cyberattacks. However, the research does not indicate that Max can directly access Telegram or WhatsApp.

Officials, teachers, students, and pupils have been pressured to use the platform for communication, campus access, or administrative services. Meanwhile, members of the Russian elite continue to use Telegram and Signal, sometimes installing Max on secondary phones. The choice of app is criticized as another step toward state-imposed digital control.