A member of the St Petersburg city legislature has turned to the Federal Security Service to check whether the Touch ID technology provided in the new iPhone 5s could be used by the US to secretly steal the fingerprints of Russian citizens.

      According to Vitaly Milonov, the biometrics could eventually end up on servers of the US security agencies, despite Apple's pledge that the information is stored inside the gadget.

      Suspicions are high after former CIA contractor Edward Snowden leaked information on the alleged mass spying programmes run by the US's National Security Agency.

      Mr Milonov is also notorious in Russia for his anti-gay initiatives.