Lithuanian Economy Minister – “Yandex App to be removed”.
Apps for food delivery, driving services, and money transfers owned by Russian company Yandex should be removed from e-commerce platforms available in Europe, according to Lithuanian Economy Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė and Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas.
The reason for the demand is the threat to users’ personal data security.
“Given that the threat of personal data leakage arises to Lithuanian citizens and all users of Yandex apps in Europe,” said Armonaitė.
“We call on the ministers, who are responsible for digital policy and cyber security, to take collective steps in forming an overall response,” she added, though countries are able to take such a decision individually.
“Threat is that personal data is leaked to Russian intelligence and security services arises to all residents of democratic countries, including those who use Russian social networks and email services” Anušauskas added.
The YandexGo app has not been available in the Appstore in Lithuania since the middle of March following the economy Ministry’s decision.
In 2018, the National Centre for Cybersecurity of Lithuania presented a study of the Yandex. Cab app, owned by Russian IT giant Yandex. The study emphasized that the use of this app potentially creates conditions for illegal collection and storage of personal data.
According to the app’s terms of use, data collected from the user’s device is stored on the company’s servers in the Russian Federation.
The possibility of sharing this data with public organizations, regulators, courts, and other third parties is also mentioned in the app’s terms of use. This increases the risk for all users of this app, as personal data could be shared with Russian intelligence and security services, according to a press release from the Ministry of Economy.
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