Finland lifts ban on Yango transfers of personal data to Russia

MOSCOW. Sept 27 (Interfax) - The Finnish Data Protection Authority has lifted a temporary ban on the transfer to Russia of customer personal data collected by Yango, the international taxi service brand of Russian Internet company Yandex , the regulator said in a press release.

An investigation by the local regulator and personal protection agencies of the Netherlands and Norway showed that Yango data in Finland are not transferred to Russia.

The ban was initially supposed to be in effect from September 1 to November 30, but later it was pushed back to September 26. It was imposed because a law on taxi services went into effect in Russia on September 1 that requires taxi services to provide access to data to the Federal Security Service at its request.

Yandex said it does not transfer data on rides of customers outside of Russia, and that such data can only be provided to the law enforcement agencies of the country where the trip was taken in accordance with local laws.

"Yango fully complies with the GDPR and the laws of countries in which it operates. The company supports transparent cooperation with data protection agencies," Yandex Taxi told Interfax, commenting on the lifting of the ban.

Yango operates in many countries, including in Africa, Latin America and Europe. The company also provides logistics, scooter rental and food delivery services.