The data of navigators using the Russian search engine Yandex would end up in the hands of Moscow. This is what the Financial Times states that, through the work of a researcher, he observed the performance of AppMetrica, a software that monitors marketing campaigns and which, according to the analyzes carried out, would send various information on Russian servers. Upon hearing the news, the company rejected any involvement with the Kremlin.
According to the source, Yandex would collect the metadata of those who have installed various of its apps, to route them to servers located in Russia. There is no evidence that specific government offices receive them but the concern of privacy advocates is that the lack of transparency of the bodies in charge allows the controllers to actually access the information. As the Financial Times recalls, metadata contemplates a lower degree of correlation to the individual user than sensitive information, although it allows us to understand where he is connected from and the sites he has visited. Another criticism against Yandex is that other apps in the portfolio would communicate with Russian servers, including games, messaging and VPN networks, usually used to hide one’s internet address from third parties. The Financial Times has discovered, through AppMetrica, that at least seven VPNs designed for the Ukrainian market exchange data with the aforementioned servers.
Yandex said they have a “very strict” process for approving government data requests. On its website, the company said it denies 21% of the requests it receives each year from Moscow.
Source: Ansa
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