Russian uses crime fears to justify tracker app for migrant workers

Russian authorities are considering introducing an app that migrant workers will be required to download when they enter the country. Leaked details indicate that the app would contain detailed biometric data, health status, police records, and a “social trustworthiness” rating. It’s unclear whether the app would access other data such as geolocation and user content. Other aspects of surveillance are also expanding in Russia, such as using Moscow’s surveillance camera system to track those ordered to quarantine for 14 days. Although official data shows that crime by migrant workers, who are financially vulnerable because they do not qualify for social welfare benefits yet cannot return home because the borders are closed, has declined, the COVID-19 pandemic has ramped up discrimination against them and they are being vilified as criminals.

Source: Open Democracy

Writer: Damelya Altkhozhina