MOSCOW — The State Department on Friday formally expressed concern to the Russian Federation about the security of its ambassador to Moscow, Michael A. McFaul, who has complained that crews from state-controlled television have gained access to his schedule by hacking his e-mail or his phones.

The move came after Mr. McFaul engaged in a five-minute debate with a reporter from NTV — a station that has produced reports critical of the United States in recent months — after she approached him with a cameraman on the sidewalk on his way to an appointment. Increasingly irritated, he said they were behaving “as if this is a wild country.”

He complained that camera crews have ambushed him repeatedly, and he asked how they had learned about his meeting that day, which was not a matter of public record.

“This is against the Geneva Convention, if you are going to receive my information from my telephone or from my BlackBerry,” Mr. McFaul said, as Lev A. Ponomaryov, an opposition leader he was meeting, tried to pull him inside. A few hours later, via Twitter, he commented, “I respect press right to go anywhere & ask any question. But do they have a right to read my e-mail and listen to my phone?”