Natalya Kaspersky's snoop-proof phone helps Putin thwart spies

When people use personal phones at work, their corporate e-mails, documents and job-related photos come under threat of being

A Russian security company run by Kaspersky Lab’s co-founder is introducing a smartphone that prevents Google and other apps from snooping on users, seeking to capitalise on the country’s tensions with the US.

The Taiga phone, designed by Moscow-based InfoWatch Group and named after desolated forests in Siberia, runs its own Android-based firmware that lets apps run on the device but stops them from collecting data. The phone also has a built-in agent that gives the administrator – such as a corporate IT department – control over what apps will work on the device and what content the user can access or share.