Large IT corporations Google and Apple can turn off all their smartphones in Russia at one moment, simply turning them into “bricks” using a mechanism similar to blocking stolen phones. This was stated by Sergey Kuzmenko, head of the Center for Digital Expertise of Roskachestvo.
Kuzmenko stressed that although Apple’s system is more advanced in terms of blocking stolen gadgets, owners of smartphones running on the Android operating system may also face serious difficulties. The owners of the latter will be able to save their information, but it will be almost impossible to bring the device back to life without significant costs.
However, Roskachestvo believes that Google and Apple are unlikely to take such a risky step, because this will lead to great reputational damage and the emergence of multimillion-dollar lawsuits from users, especially since there are no conditions in the license agreement that allow corporations to block. In addition, there are many foreigners in Russia who are temporarily in the country on working visits or visiting their relatives. Therefore, it is difficult to separate them from local residents who use similar devices, the agency interlocutor added.
Nevertheless, smartphones running on operating systems other than Android, and even more so from iOS, look more secure. Such operating systems are used on their devices by Chinese companies Huawei (its own HarmonyOS operating system) and Xiaomi (last year introduced its own HyperOS operating system).
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