Russia’s prosecutor general says warrantless access to phone data would aid law enforcement but raises constitutional concerns

Warrantless access to data on Russians’ mobile devices would “significantly” simplify the work of law enforcement, Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan said in a speech to Russia’s upper house of parliament.

The ability to quickly identify a device could be a decisive factor in locating criminals and solving crimes, he said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

Law enforcement activity must not “create conditions for violating citizens’ constitutional rights,” Gutsan said. He added that giving security services access to the central device identifier database requires careful review and further study.

Gutsan took office as prosecutor general in September 2025. His predecessor, Igor Krasnov, who was appointed to the post in January 2020, moved on to become chairman of the Supreme Court of Russia. Gutsan was born in the Leningrad region and graduated from the law faculty of Leningrad State University, named after Zhdanov, where he served as class prefect in the same group as former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The central device identifier database that Gutsan referred to is a proposed Russian registry designed to link mobile devices’ IMEI numbers to the SIM cards of their owners. The Russian business daily Kommersant reported that the Digital Development Ministry wants to allow only registered devices to operate beginning in 2028.