Finland banned Yandex from transferring Yango taxi customer data to Russia

The Finnish Data Protection Commissioner ordered Yandex and the Dutch Ridetech International BV to suspend the transfer and processing of user data collected in the Yango taxi service to Russia, reported website of the ombudsman’s office.

The need for such a step is explained by one of the provisions law on the regulation of the operation of taxis in Russia, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of December last year and coming into force on September 1. According to it, the carrier must store for at least six months the information contained in the order log, providing them at the request of law enforcement agencies.

The Finnish Data Protection Authority draws attention to the fact that taxi aggregators will also be required to transfer to the FSB access to information systems and databases used to receive, store, process and transmit passenger taxi orders. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved procedure for FSB access to such data in July.

“The Ministry of Justice of Finland believes that Yango cannot protect the personal data of customers in accordance with the requirements of EU law after this legislative innovation in Russia. Therefore, an order to suspend data transmission is needed,” the report says.

The ombudsman’s office noted that Yango operates in Finland and Norway, and the personal data of the taxi service is processed by Ridetech International BV Further, according to Yango, the company transfers personal data to Russia.

The temporary procedure for restricting data transfer will take effect on September 1 and will be valid until November 30.

November 2022Yandexannounced plans to split the group’s assets. Part of the businesses, including autonomous cars, cloud technologies, etc., will continue to operate in Russia, but their international parts will be separated into independent companies managed by a company in the Netherlands. Yandex NV will eventually withdraw from the shareholders and change its name.

In May, it became known that it could buy a stake in Yandex VTB, Andrey Kostin, chairman of the board of the bank, reported that the deal could be closed before the end of the year. In addition to VTB, the head of Interros Vladimir Potanin and Alekperov could become buyers of a controlling stake. At SPIEF, Kostin told reporters that investors were offered to buy Yandex without the 50% discount provided. According to him, it is not worth making a deal on such conditions.