The Kremlin is not familiar with information about attempts to monitor Putin through smartphones

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin is unaware of any attempts to monitor the location of Vladimir Putin through the smartphones of those around him. This is how he commented on the information of former Wall Street Journal journalist Byron Thau.

“No, we don’t know that exactly in this way (surveillance was carried out.— “Ъ”). I don’t know what this information is based on. We don’t know about these companies that are mentioned there,” Mr. Peskov said during a press call.

The Kremlin spokesman noted that the intelligence services are doing everything necessary to ensure the president’s safety. In his opinion, “you need to be aware” that smartphones with any operating system are “absolutely transparent to surveillance, surveillance, and so on.” “That is, everyone who uses smartphones should clearly understand this,” added Mr. Peskov.

Byron Thau said in his book that the American company PlanetRisk tried to track the movements of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The publication reported this with reference to the book. Wired. Locomotive technology was said to have been developed in 2016 to track smartphones using commercial data. The material notes that the team observed devices that “belonged to drivers, security personnel, political advisers and other support personnel.” Thanks to this, the company allegedly knew where Mr. Putin was going and where his entourage was located. The Locomotive was subsequently renamed VISR and began to be used by American intelligence and intelligence agencies, the book says.