🔹 Would you visit a city that tracks your every move?
Imagine arriving in a capital city only to be told:
“Install this app or risk deportation.”
That’s exactly what foreign residents in Moscow now face.
A newly approved Russian law forces non-citizens living in the capital to install a government-issued tracking app. On paper, it’s a tool to improve migration control.
In practice? It’s a bold move toward state-run digital surveillance.
🔹 What the law mandates
Unveiled by Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma, the law claims to combat “migrant crime” through modern technology.
Here’s what the app collects:
- 📍 Live GPS location
- 🧠 Biometric fingerprints
- 📸 Facial recognition
- 🏠 Home address registration
Foreigners must notify authorities within 3 business days if they change addresses.
Failure to comply? They face tracking and deportation.
🔓 Exceptions apply only to diplomats and Belarusian citizens.
🔹 Is it legal under the Russian Constitution?
Not according to civil rights experts.
Lawyer Anna Minushkina says the law violates Articles 23 and 24 of the Russian Constitution, which protect:
- Individual privacy
- Personal data security
By embedding real-time surveillance in legal code, Russia may be legitimizing overreach under the guise of order.
🔹 Confusion among migrant communities
For those directly affected, clarity is in short supply.
Viktor Teplyankov, head of Moscow’s Uzbek community, called the law:
“Ill-conceived and impractical.”
He and others raise basic questions:
- ❓ What if your phone is lost or stolen?
- ❓ What if your phone can’t run the app?
- ❓ What about those without internet?
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has yet to publish clear guidelines.
🔹 Labor market warning: Who will do the work?
Andrey Yakimov, from the PSP Foundation, warns of economic fallout:
“Essential migrant workers may leave — especially in construction, agriculture, and domestic services.”
At a time when Russia’s workforce is shrinking, such measures risk repelling the labor it most needs.
🔹 A pilot project until 2029
The rollout isn’t immediate.
This tracking system will undergo testing until September 2029.
What happens then? That’s unclear.
Officials say they’ll assess its “success”, but no clear metrics exist.
🔹 Surveillance or migration control?
Supporters argue it’s just a modern migration tool.
Critics say it’s a step closer to total surveillance.
Let’s not sugarcoat it:
Gathering biometric and GPS data in real time — without a court order — undermines basic freedoms.
🔹 Legal blind spots
Many basic scenarios remain unanswered:
- 🔌 No smartphone?
- 📴 Technical failure?
- 🧳 Short-term tourist visit?
The law leaves these “edge cases” unresolved — a troubling sign in any legal framework.
🔹 How does this compare globally?
| Country | App Required? | Biometric Data? | GPS Live Tracking? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇷🇺 Russia (Moscow) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Face + Fingerprints | ✅ 24/7 Live |
| 🇺🇸 USA | ⚠️ Sometimes | ✅ In some cases | ❌ No |
| 🇪🇺 EU | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
Moscow’s policy could become a model for digital control elsewhere — under the pretext of “order” and “efficiency”.
🔹 A dangerous precedent?
This isn’t just a local issue.
It’s a test case for a global shift in how states handle mobility and foreign presence.
Turning people into trackable data points, simply for crossing borders, redefines modern freedom.
What starts in Moscow might spread far beyond. And if we don’t question it now, we may not be able to stop it later.
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