Norway banned Yandex from transferring Yango taxi customer data to Russia

Norway, following Finland, banned Yandex from transferring and processing user data to Russia, which are collected in the Yango taxi service. About it reported at the Norwegian Data Protection Authority.

“This poses a serious privacy risk, as the Russian authorities could potentially track the movements of Norwegian residents through Yango,” Norwegian government spokesman Tobias Yudin said, according to the press service.

It is noted that the department is cooperating with data supervisory authorities in Finland and the Netherlands on this issue. In addition, the agency gave Yango until August 14 for clarification. Yango has received prior warning that the Norwegian data protection authority will prohibit any transfer of personal data to Russia.

Earlier ban on data transfer to Russia introduced Finnish data protection officer. Also, a ban order was sent to the Dutch Ridetech International BV

The Finnish and Norwegian sides explain this as one of the provisions of the law on regulating the operation of taxis in Russia, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December 2022. According to the rule, the carrier must store the information contained in the order log for at least six months and provide them at the request of law enforcement organs. The changes come into effect on September 1.

The press service of Yandex told Vedomosti that Russian law enforcement officers cannot access data on users’ trips outside of Russia. “Trip data can only be obtained by law enforcement agencies of the country where the trip was made, according to the procedures prescribed in local laws,” the representative office clarified.