MAX has begun blocking users who use mods to circumvent its collection of personal data. The service explained this as an attempt to protect Russians from “scammers”

The MAX messenger, approved by the Russian government as national, blocks access through unofficial applications, this was confirmed by the service’s press service. This is how she commented on reports of mass blocking of users who tried to protect themselves from the collection of personal data by MAX by downloading modifiers.

“Installation of unofficial third-party applications - so-called alternative clients, which provide access to Max, poses a threat to the user’s personal data, and also allows attackers to send malicious and dangerous files on behalf of the user. The Vax Security Center promptly blocks access through such applications,” the messenger’s press service said.

adding that this is "necessary to protect users from attackers and scammers."

• Tens of thousands of Russians have installed MAX modifications on their smartphones, trying to protect themselves, Vorstka* noted. Users are not satisfied with the messenger’s interference in the operating system: activity trackers, collection of personal data, and so on. According to Vorstka sources, the number of users of such mods can reach 60 thousand.

• On October 1, it became known that MAX began blocking users en masse. This affected at least one mod, which disables the functions of tracking and collecting personal data, and also allows you to configure anonymization. According to one of the developers, “about 700 people were definitely blocked.”

*The Ministry of Justice considers him a “foreign agent”