Russia demands Apple to store and provide direct access to user’s communications

Russia demands Apple to store and provide direct access to user’s communications

Apple did not yet comment if it’s going to comply

Danis Tazetdinov

Oct 30

Russian government added Apple to the registry of organizations that facilitate communications.

Companies added to the registry should store users’ communications and provide access to those to government agencies without additional court order.

Apple formally exited Russia – no longer officially selling the devices, cutting developer accesses and so on.

However, Apple formally has FaceTime and iMessage as communications platforms. Both platforms have end-to-end encryption and Apple cannot provide access to communications without weakening the protocols.

iCloud services, including Mail also could be subject to the surveillance.

Apple did not comment on the topic yet.

References:

• Russia now requires Apple to store user communications and hand them over if requested

• Russia orders Apple to surrender users’ messages on demand

• Russia Places Apple on State Surveillance Registry

• Russia Wants User Data From Apple

© 2026 Danis Tazetdinov
N/A