Report: Russia’s ‘Max’ super-app doubles as surveillance tool, researchers say

Over the past 18 months, tens of millions of people in Russia have been required to install a new app on their phones, according to research reported by the Guardian. The app, called Max, is represented by a violet-blue button and combines messaging with payment functions.

Russian authorities have promoted Max as a patriotic domestic alternative to Western platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp, the report said. Celebrities have featured the app in rap videos and comic routines as part of a wider promotional push, according to the Guardian.

The push appears to have succeeded in driving adoption: the Guardian reported that Max became the country’s most-used messaging app this summer.

However, the research cited by the Guardian found that the app amounts to a “backdoor” on users’ devices, allowing the platform to be used as a tool for state surveillance of citizens. The report did not specify the identity of the researchers or the methodology used to reach this conclusion, based on the available excerpt.

The Guardian’s report does not detail how many people have been affected by any surveillance capabilities, nor does it specify how the “forced” installation of the app has been enforced across the population.

This article is based on an initial report by the Guardian; further details on the research methodology and official responses from Russian authorities were not available in the source material reviewed.