Russian search engine company Yandex is harvesting data from millions of Android and iOS app users and sending it to Russia.
Yandex's collection of data from users' devices has raised concerns among Western information security experts, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, Yandex has embedded special code in its apps for devices running Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android that helps collect user data from mobiles and then sends the information to servers in Russia.
Researchers believe this "metadata" could be available to the Kremlin and used to track people through their cell phones.
The Financial Times cites expert Zach Edwards, who first made the discovery about Yandex code as part of an app audit campaign for the non-profit Me2B Alliance. Four other independent experts verified Edwards' work to the publication.
Cher Scarlett, a former chief software engineer in global security at Apple, said that once user information is collected on Russian servers, "Yandex could be obliged to submit it to the government under local laws."
According to the newspaper, Yandex has acknowledged its software collects information about "device, network and IP address," but described this data as "non-personalized and very limited." According to the company, Yandex will not be able to identify users based on the information collected.
It should be noted that the company's executive director Tigran Khudaverdyan quited last week after EU sanctions were imposed against him, designed to hit the assets of businesspeople believed to be close to the Kremlin.
