Yandex app in Georgia used Russian servers. What does this mean?

Yandex and Russian servers in Georgia

According to Georgia’s Personal Data Protection Service (PSPD), the Yandex app connects to servers located in Russia when processing personal data.

Historical record: Around 37,400 companies in Georgia are now owned by Russian citizens

Russian companies are present in all sectors, often entering through offshore entities and registered at fake addresses

As part of its investigation, the Personal Data Protection Service (PSPD) examined the potential illegal transfer of personal data by Raidtech Georgia to another country.

This company provides taxi services through the Yandex GO app (for passengers) and Yandex Pro (for drivers).

The investigation revealed that during internet connection monitoring, the app was found to connect to servers located in the Russian Federation. The company had set up the technical process for handling personal data of individuals (passengers and drivers) registered in Georgia in such a way that, upon establishing a network connection, servers received traffic, including the network IP address.

It was also reported that Raidtech previously requested a license from the PSPD to transfer data to Russia, but this request was denied.

As a result of the violation, Raidtech was fined 4,000 lari (around $1.5k) and ordered to stop transferring data to Russia.