Earlier, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy,

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Russia, there is talk of a possible blocking of Apple and Google smartphones. First, State Duma deputy Anton Gorelkin made such a statement, then his words were confirmed by Roskachestvo. Izvestia found out whether corporations can disable iPhones and Android smartphones for Russians, and how to protect their devices.

Blocking smartphones
Roskachestvo confirmed that afghanistan whatsapp number database Apple and Google may switch off their smartphones in Russia. But this will cause enormous damage to the companies, Sergey Kuzmenko, head of the Roskachestvo Digital Expertise Center, told Izvestia.
Technology and Communications Anton Gorelkin spoke about the risk of disconnecting Apple and Android smartphones that use Google services. According to him, this could happen if an order is received from the US authorities.

— Technically, it is possible to disable smartphones. This will happen using the same mechanism as stolen devices are blocked. Apple technology has a much more advanced mechanism than Google's competitors, but users may encounter serious problems in both cases, — said Kuzmenko.

According to him, in the case of the "apple" corporation, users will receive a "brick" - a device that will be completely blocked with the loss of all personal data. In the case of Android, everything is a little better, but only in the sense that user data can be extracted - it is almost impossible to "resurrect" the device itself without serious material investments and all sorts of reflashing.

At the same time, experts from the Roskachestvo Digital Expertise Center doubt that corporations will take this step. Firstly, smartphones do not indicate which specific country they were manufactured for, and the Apple or Google license agreement, which the user agrees to when purchasing, does not contain such conditions for blocking. Secondly, if companies do take this step, it will result in huge reputational damage and multi-million dollar lawsuits.

“There are many foreigners in Russia: some come for work or to visit relatives, and separating them from the natives who use foreign technology is an extremely difficult task,” concluded Kuzmenko.

Apple stopped supplying its products to Russia and limited the use of services from March 1, 2022, after the start of a military special operation in Ukraine. Google's Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in May 2022.

Technical capabilities