What is Being Done for the Protection of Armenian Citizens' Personal Data Amid Controversy Surrounding Yandex

“Joghourd” newspaper reports that about a year ago, regular employees of Yandex Go became interested in the specifics of where taxi ride data, addresses, and maps are stored outside Russia. Despite the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, the service (commonly known as Yango and Yandex Go) still operates in more than twenty countries around the world, including Israel, Norway, Finland, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Armenia.

The Russian investigative reporting and news analysis site Meduza wrote that correspondence between Yandex Go employees and management regarding this issue began after the Russian special services, the FSB, were granted round-the-clock access to the taxi service data registered in the Information Dissemination Organizers Register. It is noteworthy that currently only Yandex Go is included in this register of Russian taxi services. This situation raised concerns for Yandex Go's customers in all countries, particularly for those residing in Armenia. The reason is the potential transfer of data from Russia to Azerbaijan.

In this regard, “Joghourd” contacted Gevorg Hayrapetyan, an expert at the Information Freedom Center. He stated during our conversation that there was initially significant concern that Russian law enforcement would gain access to Armenian data. This worry lasted a day or two, as the Armenian company operating under the name “Yandex” – “Raidek Eym” LLC – issued a statement claiming that this is a Russian law that applies only to Russia and does not extend to the company providing services in Armenia.

According to Hayrapetyan, the Personal Data Protection Office has now announced that, based on preliminary verification results, the information acquired from “Raidek Eym” LLC corresponds to reality; in other words, Russian law enforcement agencies will not have access to Armenian data.

The Inspection Body for Urban Development, Technical and Fire Safety also informed that they were not aware of this situation since they do not oversee online taxis. “To be honest, we are not informed about this matter; however, even if that is the case, it certainly involves the transfer of personal data, which must be prevented. We do not have oversight over online taxi services. Presumably, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure should draft a legislative proposal or decision, which is currently lacking,” they stated.

In their turn, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure denied the information, saying, “Regarding online taxis, our developed project pertains exclusively to bringing them into the tax field.”

“Joghourd” also contacted the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia. They confirmed that the phenomenon would not extend to Armenia, stating that within the framework of the authorities defined by the “Law on Personal Data Protection,” the Personal Data Agency had initiated an investigation a few days ago to verify the information disclosed in the media regarding the potential availability of Armenian user data to the Federal Security Service of Russia from September 1 of this year.

In response to the Personal Data Protection Agency's inquiry on August 9, “Raidek Eym” LLC stated that Federal Law No. 580-FZ dated December 29, 2022, does not apply to the territory of the Republic of Armenia regarding Yandex Go and other facets of the company's operations. In other words, all state entities have trusted the Armenian branch of Yandex, and no steps are being taken to protect the personal data of Armenian citizens.

For more details, refer to today’s edition of the newspaper.