Thanks to its 200,000 cameras installed throughout Moscow, the Russian government tracks its citizens who would have wanted to escape the mobilization for the war in Ukraine, but also its opponents.
“Since the beginning of the mobilization, many videos have circulated on social networks of how the authorities detain men of legal age to serve,” says the BBC in a survey about it. According to an article by Human Rights Watch (HRW), based on information from the Russian media Shooting, “at least seven men were arrested in September by the police”. They were suspected of having wanted to escape from the mobilization.
These arrests usually take place in the subway. In fact, a facial recognition system was installed in the Moscow metro in the fall of 2020. The initial purpose of these cameras was to allow authorities to monitor those who did not comply with sanitary restrictions. It should be noted that since 2017 about 100,000 city cameras have been connected to the video surveillance system.
Monitor opponents
In addition to reconnaissance systems, authorities can rely on data collected by Roskomnadzor, the Russian Internet policeman. If the user uses services such as the Yandex search engine or the Russian equivalent of Facebook VKontakte, the Russian intelligence services keep their data, namely communications, metadata and geolocation.
According to HRW, video surveillance equipped with facial recognition also allows authorities to closely monitor opponents of the regime or participants in opposition demonstrations.
No law authorizes the Russian authorities to locate those mobilized, but they are based on an article relating to “military duty”, stresses the BBC. The information technology department now plans to expand the capacity of Moscow’s facial recognition system to other regions of the country.
Source: BFM TV
