For me, this is particularly interesting because I've been shocked at the amount of surveillance Londoners have allowed.
The New Moscow: A Digital Utopia Doubling as a Surveillance Trap
Cutting-edge technologies have reshaped the Russian capital, making it safer, more convenient — and more closely watched.
By Ivan Nechepurenko
On the surface, today’s Moscow is a technological wonderland. You can use your face to pay for almost anything, like subway fares, or even to finalize the purchase of an apartment. Robots scurry across sidewalks making 15-minute grocery deliveries, and driverless taxis are set to begin commercial service this year.
Underpinning many of the modern amenities is a robust digital infrastructure developed by the city government that has made life not only easier, but also safer. Policing aided by digital tools has helped cement Moscow’s transformation from the raw, unforgiving place it was 25 years ago, plagued by home burglaries, street muggings and murders.
But there is a cost to the convenience and security: an expanding surveillance state.
Moscow’s roughly 300,000 CCTV cameras make it one of the most heavily watched cities in the world. It is impossible to avoid a lens while simply walking through the city. The same cameras that whisk subway passengers through turnstiles are also used to monitor and flag people....
These databases help the authorities target political dissent in addition to crime. Biometric feeds can be used to hunt down critics of the government after they hold gatherings. The days when outspoken Russians could flee to remote towns to avoid the authorities, as they did during Stalin’s purges, are largely over.
As of July, around 10 million Russians were using biometrics-driven applications in some form, and the Kremlin wants to increase that number, pushing citizens to adopt the tools for identification not only at train stations, but also at airports. This year, Moscow City Hall announced that a biometric system would recognize passengers on buses and trams, automatically deducting their fare once they confirmed the transaction in an app.
Other major European cities also have large CCTV networks, most notably London. Moscow’s, however, is more centralized and uses biometrics to identify people spotted by cameras with fewer restrictions.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/world/europe/moscow-russia-putin-digital-surveillance.html
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-boston-globe/20260915/281595247428477?srsltid=AU7gw4Vqq8YpVtcD1HXBoJ1IF-D_o2Fpexz6yshm3Wq5xvO1COwu0WjN