October 19, 2023

Not My Cab of Tea


Not My Cab of Tea
A Yango car in Helsinki, Finland. Nerdbird89, Wikimedia Commons.

As reported by Bloomberg, Yango, Russian tech giant Yandex's ride-sharing app, is under scrutiny for potential breaches of European Union data protection regulations

The Dutch Data Protection Authority is investigating the operations of Yango on suspicion that the app may be involved in the unauthorized transfer of user data to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). The investigation seeks to ensure the protection of user data and privacy rights in the Netherlands.

A report published by Meduza in August revealed that all user data from taxi trips booked through Yandex services abroad is being sent to Russia. Two anonymous Yandex employees told Meduza that taxi service data is stored in Russian data centers.

This raises concerns that user info from foreign taxi services might be accessible to the FSB, due to new laws that went into effect September 1, 2023, granting the FSB access to passenger taxi order databases.

The company officially stated it would not provide the FSB with overseas trip data, and stated in a press release, “Data on trips can be obtained exclusively by law enforcement agencies of the country where the trip was made, according to the procedures prescribed in local laws: this is how Russian legislation and the legislation of most other countries works. After the entry into force of the taxi law from September 1, this logic will not change.”

You Might Also Like

  • August 15, 2023

"I Am Horrified"

The founder of Russian tech giant Yandex publicly condemns the War on Ukraine.
Yandexit
  • December 06, 2022

Yandexit

Russia's homegrown tech giant is collapsing under pressure from state censorship and the war in Ukraine.
Like Uber for Booze
  • January 20, 2021

Like Uber for Booze

Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade has thrown its support behind a measure for distance-selling alcohol.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955