Yandex is a Russian search engine and browser whose privacy policy discloses that personal data of Russian citizens is stored in databases located inside Russia and shared with government, regulatory, enforcement, or court bodies on request, alongside routine sharing with advertising partners for personalized ads. Its App Store privacy label declares extensive cross-app tracking (location, contact info, search/browsing history, identifiers) and Yandex separately operates AppMetrica, a third-party mobile analytics/marketing SDK embedded in tens of thousands of external apps. In 2024, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Yandex N.V. completed a divestment of its Russia-based businesses to a Russian purchaser consortium for roughly $5.4 billion, with the operating entity (YANDEX LLC) headquartered in Moscow under Russian law; the parent's remaining international AI business rebranded as Nebius Group. In January 2023 Yandex confirmed that roughly 44.7 GB of internal source code repositories, covering search, ads, mail, maps, and other services, was leaked publicly, which the company attributed to a former employee rather than an external hack.
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Yandex's privacy policy states that for users in Russia, personal information of Russian citizens is collected and stored in databases located inside Russian territory per Russian data-localization requirements, and separately discloses that personal information including a user's search history is used to personalize advertisements and commercial offers.
Yandex's privacy policy names the operating entity as YANDEX LLC, a company incorporated under Russian law with its head office registered in Moscow, Russia.
Nebius Group's (formerly Yandex N.V.) own newsroom page confirms the July 2024 completion of a roughly $5.4 billion divestment of all Yandex Russia-based businesses to a Russian purchaser consortium, ending Yandex N.V.'s remaining ~28% stake and severing its connections with Russia.
Yandex's privacy policy states that personal information may be disclosed to any national or international regulatory, enforcement, exchange, or government body, or to a court, where required by applicable law or regulation at their request, in addition to disclosed sharing with advertising partners.
BleepingComputer reported that in January 2023, roughly 44.7 GB of Yandex's internal source code repositories — covering search, maps, mail, ads, taxi, cloud, and other services — were leaked publicly on a hacking forum; Yandex confirmed the leak but attributed it to a former employee rather than an external hack of its systems.
The App Store privacy label for Yandex Browser (developer: Direct Cursus Computer Systems Trading) states that location, contact info, search history, browsing history, and identifiers may be used to track the user across apps and websites owned by other companies.
Yandex's own AppMetrica product page markets a one-stop mobile analytics and marketing SDK for tracking app metrics, monetization, and user acquisition, stating it is trusted by roughly 11,000 teams across 50 countries and used in 60,000 apps.