Moldova's government has opened an investigation into whether the Russian technology group Yandex has been transferring Moldovans' personal data to servers in Russia, rather than keeping it in the Netherlands as had been assumed, RFE/RL reports.
It follows an RFE/RL Moldovan Service investigation, published on 13 October, alleging from court files that about $7.8m in Yandex Go taxi revenue went untaxed to banks in Dubai and Kazakhstan. Yandex holds roughly 60 per cent of Moldova's taxi market and had repeatedly refused to hand over details of its drivers.
The government's council for strategic investment review has demanded that Yandex disclose the ultimate owners of its local branch, giving it 20 days, and warned the probe could lead to asset seizures or the app being suspended. In May, the Yandex company involved was fined $112m in the Netherlands over similar concerns.
Source: RFE/RL
