Russian ride-hailing app Yango is currently under investigation due to concerns that it may be assisting President Vladimir Putin’s secret service in gathering data on European customers. Yango, which is owned by Internet company Yandex NV, is facing a Dutch probe under the European Union’s data protection rules. This comes after Finnish and Norwegian authorities previously raised concerns about the risks associated with a controversial law that went into effect on September 1. The law enables Russia to access data processed through taxi operators.
“We can confirm that we started an investigation into Yango,” stated a spokesman for the Dutch Data Protection Authority. However, they declined to provide further information regarding the investigation.
In August, Finland’s data authority issued an emergency order requiring Yandex to suspend any transfers of Yango-related user data to Russia from the two nations by September 1. The temporary suspension was then postponed until September 26 after investigations conducted by Finnish, Norwegian, and Dutch authorities determined that the new Russian law would not apply to Yango’s services in Europe.
Yango, the Russian competitor of Uber Technologies Inc, has been under scrutiny by Finland’s watchdog since 2019. The Finnish authority is seeking clarification on who is in control of data processing at the company.
“The authorities’ investigations have revealed that personal data collected by the Yango taxi service has been transferred to Russia,” stated the Finnish regulator in an announcement on August 31. Moreover, they added, “It is possible that the FSB has access to data transferred to Russia regardless of the scope of taxi legislation, but the investigation is still ongoing.” The FSB refers to Russia’s Federal Security Service.
The Finnish Data Protection Ombudsman has mentioned that the changes in Russian law would significantly expand the FSB’s authority to obtain data processed during taxi operations.
If it is determined that the new law does not apply to data of European citizens, the authorities will continue to investigate the legality of personal data transfers carried out by Yango.
As of now, there has been no response from Yandex regarding a request for comment. – Bloomberg
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
