Search engines
Yandex Search privacy rating
Web search engine from the Russian company Yandex. Searches are linked to cookies, IP addresses and Yandex ID accounts to personalize results and ads.
Summary
Yandex Search scores 27 out of 100 (grade F) on the search engines criteria. It meets 2 of 11 criteria: transparency report and TLS configuration. It partly meets security headers, no profile-based ads and no account needed. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, independent audit, tells users about requests and no search history logs. It is based in Russia: Not in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B+.
Score 27 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
- No
-
No
No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3
Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?
The site uses Yandex Metrica and third-party tracking and advertising cookies, and search activity is collected with cookie and account identifiers.
-
No
No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
Funded by advertising, including ads personalized from search history.
-
No
Independent audit Weight 2 of 3
Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?
No independent audit is published.
-
Yes
Transparency report Weight 2 of 3
Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds?
Yandex publishes half-yearly counts of government requests for user data and refusals by service.
-
No
Tells users about requests Weight 1 of 3
Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it?
No published policy on notifying users about data requests.
-
No
No search history logs Weight 3 of 3
Are searches stored without IP addresses or other identifiers?
Search history is collected with cookies, IP addresses and Yandex ID accounts and used to personalize results.
-
Partial
No profile-based ads Weight 2 of 3
Are ads (if any) based only on the current search, not a profile?
Ads use interests and location by default, and personalization can be turned off in search settings.
-
Partial
No account needed Weight 1 of 3
Can every feature be used without an account?
Search works without an account; profile features and synced history need a Yandex ID.
Automated tests
-
Yes
TLS configuration Weight 2 of 3
Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better?
Grade A+
-
Partial
Security headers Weight 1 of 3
Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better?
Grade B+ (80/100+)
-
Not tested yet
Modern web standards Weight 1 of 3
Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test?
Not tested yet.