Roskomnadzor has forcibly placed Apple and Microsoft into the official register of information disseminators, requiring the firms to store Russian users' call and message data on local servers for three years and hand it over to authorities on demand.

The inclusion came without any application from the companies, and refusal to cooperate now carries hefty fines and the risk of service restrictions. Meanwhile, the Federal Antimonopoly Service opened a case against Apple in August for refusing to pre‑install mandatory Russian software – the RuStore app market and the "Max" messenger. Despite parliamentary statements that iPhone bans are not planned, pressure is mounting.

For users, this means VPNs and hidden channels no longer guarantee safety: new investigative arguments now include VPN usage, concealed contacts, and auto‑delete features. Over the coming years, tighter control over foreign traffic is expected, and the tech giants could be blocked in Russia at any moment.