Can Yandex be trusted? Should we worry about anonymized data? More than 50,000 applications, developed via a development kit provided by the Russian Google, collect user data; what to remember so as not to panic.
Offered free of charge – in exchange for anonymized personal data allowing advertising targeting – the “famous” SDK, or development kit, provided by Yandex is rather practical for developers: mapping, notifications and even payment system…
Stored in Finland and Russia, these statistical data have so far raised no more questions than that. But since the start of the war in Ukraine, all eyes have been on the Kremlin, to which Yandex is reputed to be very close. Should you uninstall your applications as a precaution? Here are some answers.
Codename: AppMetrica
An expert from auditing agency Me2B Alliance investigated the Android and iOS application development kit named AppMetrica. Concretely, this SDK offers essential functions for the proper functioning of applications, a kind of backbone for these services. However, in the article of FinancialTimespublished on March 29, Yandex confirmed that AppMetrica collects data concerning ” device, network and IP address from the user… Let’s bet that the information is a little vague.
The Russian Google specifies that these data “ non-personalized and very limited ” do not identify or track a user: ” Although theoretically possible, in practice it is extremely difficult to identify users solely on the basis of the information collected. “.
Although theoretically possible, in practice it is extremely hard to identify users based solely on such information collected. Yandex definitely cannot do this.
You will inevitably find in the long list of applications concerned, something that you had downloaded one evening of boredom, for example. Are targeted, a string of games – Stack Ball 3D, bubble shooter, Hoop Star and the clairvoyant Akinator – like music software – Ultimate Guitar: Chords & Tabs, Drum Pad Machine – beat maker. Our French colleagues from Numerama have compiled a list of the most popular applications in France developed via AppMetrica.
If more than 52,000 applications are concerned on a global scale, it is especially people who occupy particularly sensitive functions who are likely to be monitored by the Russian state apparatus. Ironically, some apps intended to simplify communications for Ukrainians in times of war (Call Ukraine) are also affected.
Yandex, close to the Kremlin, minimizes the facts
Certainly, it is not Yandex, giant of Russian tech, which has just invented data siphoning, and the company plays down the impact of this collection. After all, this SDK tool “ works the same as other international software such as Google Firebase, found in no less than 2 million Android apps. It is equally true that the user accepts the terms of use by downloading the application.
In the meantime, the number of applications developed using SDK tools continues to grow and their use also applies to VPNs, which are nevertheless sold as means of protecting one’s identity on the Internet.
Source : Numerama, FinancialTimes
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