# 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+.

- Website: https://yandex.com
- Jurisdiction: Russia. Not in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes.
- Home page trackers: Yandex, Yandex Metrica
- Category: [Search engines](https://privacyratings.com/search-engines/)
- Also rated: [Yandex Mail](https://privacyratings.com/email-providers/yandex-mail/) (Email providers)
- Grade: F (27/100)

## Criteria

| Criterion | Answer | Note | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | No | Closed source. |  |
| No trackers or telemetry | No | The site uses Yandex Metrica and third-party tracking and advertising cookies, and search activity is collected with cookie and account identifiers. | https://yandex.com/legal/confidential/en/ |
| No ads or data sales | No | Funded by advertising, including ads personalized from search history. | https://yandex.com/legal/confidential/en/ |
| Independent audit | No | No independent audit is published. |  |
| Transparency report | Yes | Yandex publishes half-yearly counts of government requests for user data and refusals by service. | https://yandex.com/company/privacy/transparencyreport |
| Tells users about requests | No | No published policy on notifying users about data requests. |  |
| TLS configuration | Yes | Grade A+ | https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=yandex.com&hideResults=on |
| Security headers | Partial | Grade B+ (80/100+) | https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/observatory/analyze?host=yandex.com |
| Modern web standards | Not tested yet | Not tested yet. |  |
| No search history logs | No | Search history is collected with cookies, IP addresses and Yandex ID accounts and used to personalize results. | https://yandex.com/company/privacy |
| No profile-based ads | Partial | Ads use interests and location by default, and personalization can be turned off in search settings. | https://yandex.com/tune/adv |
| No account needed | Partial | Search works without an account; profile features and synced history need a Yandex ID. | https://yandex.com/company/privacy |

Source: https://privacyratings.com/search-engines/yandex-search/
Edit: https://github.com/privacyratings/privacyratings.com/edit/main/ratings/search-engines/yandex-search.md