After Ukraine’s surprise attack on Kursk earlier this month, Russia is urging those in the region to curtail their online activity, which includes dating apps, as it could be used as a data-gathering tool by Ukrainian forces, Politico reports.”It is highly discouraged to use online dating services. The enemy actively uses such resources for the covert collection of information,” reads a translated memo from Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs that was posted by Russian news agency Interfax.Many dating apps that are popular in the US are not available in Russia. Following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Match Group—which owns Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and several others services—said it would “restrict access to their services in Russia and complete [its] withdrawal from the Russian market by June 30, 2023.”Using dating apps for reconnaissance is not unprecedented, though. After the attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, for example, some women changed their profile information to trick men into admitting they stormed the building and then turned those conversations over to the FBI.In Russia, the stakes are a little higher. Ukraine caught Russia off guard in Kursk, prompting Russia to declare a state of emergency there, the New York Times reports.As such, Russian authorities are warning people not to post footage taken from dashcams on social media or to live-stream anything while driving on highways in case Ukrainians catch glimpses of troop movements or military equipment. Unprotected home security cameras, meanwhile, could be open to remote viewing of “everything from private yards to roads and highways of strategic importance, [so] if there is no urgent need, it is better not to use video surveillance cameras,” the ministry says.
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Police and military personnel are advised to disable Telegram’s “People Nearby” function, which tells you if people in your contacts are within 800 meters in diameter from you, and remove any photos or information that would suggest Russian military service. Russians serving in the Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod regions have also have been told not to add location information to their social media posts.
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About Jibin Joseph
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Jibin is a tech news writer based out of Ahmedabad, India. Previously, he served as the editor of iGeeksBlog and is a self-proclaimed tech enthusiast who loves breaking down complex information for a broader audience.
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