Natalya Kaspersky, the co-founder of Russia’s
Kaspersky Lab is working on a smartphone called TaigaPhone that prevents apps
like Google from spying on users. The smartphone has been designed by InfoWatch
Group that is based in Moscow, Russia. Natalya is also the President of the
InfoWatch Group.
The TaigaPhone will be running on customized version
of Android that will prevent apps from collecting data. There is no
confirmation on whether it will give access to Google Play Store. According to
Natalya, “Most smartphone apps collect certain data on users and send it to
outside servers.” She has also stated that when users make use of personal
smartphones at workplace, their corporate emails, documents and photos are
maliciously or accidently shared with third-party agencies.
TaigaPhone will allow the users to monitor and
control the data that the apps try to collect. Also, IT departments in
corporate companies will be able to control what apps are installed on the
phone and what content are shared by the users. InfoWatch claims that the U.S.
companies like Google and Facebook use their apps to collect user data. The
main motive of making the Taiga smartphone is to protect the sensitive data of
Russian citizens and corporations from getting leaked to the U.S. servers.
The company would be manufacturing 50,000 units of
the TaigaPhone initially in China. It will be first made available to the
workers of Russia companies that are co-owned by the government. Malaysia and
the United Arab Emirates are the other markets that will be receiving Taiga. In
Russia, the smartphone would be costing around 15,000 rubles (US$ 260).
TaigaPhone has reached final stages of its production. It is a dual-SIM phone
that features a 5-inch display and it features two cameras. Nothing much is
known on the specifications of the phone.
The technological cold war between the U.S. and
Russia is heating up and TaigaPhone is the latest example. U.S. President
Donald Trump has recently banned the use of Kaspersky antivirus in the country
citing risk to national security. The Trump administration has also directed
the U.S. government agencies to remove all the products from Kaspersky Lab from
their networks. On the other side, President of Russia Vladimir Putin is
reducing the country’s reliance on U.S. based firms like Microsoft and IBM.
