According to the Financial Times, Russian authorities have started to forbid government personnel from using Apple iPhones for official state purposes.
The country’s trade ministry will start banning iPhone use on Monday for all “work purposes.” Other organizations, such as the ministry of communications and mass media in Russia, either already have comparable regulations in place or will shortly start implementing them. According to The Times, the prohibition applies to all Apple goods.
However, in some circumstances, officials are permitted to continue using those devices for personal purposes as long as they don’t access official correspondence on them.
In response to Engadget’s request for comment, Apple remained silent. The corporation disabled Apple Pay when Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year.
Later, all Russian product sales were halted. Apple stated at the time that the choice was made in response to the invasion and that it stood “with all of the people” who had been harmed by the intrusion.
Russia Has Spy Concerns Over Apple’s Devices
After the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said at the beginning of June that it had discovered a “spying operation by US intelligence agencies” using Apple devices, the ban was enacted.
Thousands of iPhones, including those used by the nation’s diplomatic missions in NATO nations, were allegedly “infected” with spying software, according to the FSB.
Without providing any proof, the FSB continued by asserting that Apple had collaborated extensively with US signal intelligence to give operatives “a wide range of control tools.”
This was rejected by the tech giant, which added that it “never worked with any government to build a backdoor into any Apple product, and never will.”
In a broader sense, the action reflects the Russian government’s intention to reduce its reliance on technologies produced abroad.
President Vladimir Putin issued a directive last year requiring organizations involved in “critical information infrastructure” to switch to domestically produced software by 2025, as The Times reports.
To read our blog on “Apple pays $12 million to Russia in an antitrust dispute,” click here.
