In June and July 2019, Coda Story covered the arrest of the Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov on spurious drug possession charges, and the ensuing public outcry. Since then, the charges against Golunov have been dropped, and in January five Moscow police officers were charged with fabrication of evidence and drug trafficking.

According to Russian news website Baza.io, one of these officers, Igor Lyakhovets, said that he had obtained the reporter’s address by requesting his travel history from Yandex.Taxi, Russia’s most popular rideshare app. Yandex.Taxi has publicly confirmed that it received and complied with this request.

It was a minor detail in Lyakhovets’ account of the Golunov investigation, but one that has shed light on the ability of Russian security services to carry out detailed surveillance of anyone who uses everyday online services, such as taxi apps. It also raised questions about the security of user data in the many countries outside Russia in which Yandex.Taxi operates.

Concerns have risen over whether Yandex.Taxi went far beyond its obligations in giving the Moscow police Golunov’s user data. On March 2, the Russian digital rights group Roskomsvoboda published a report noting that Yandex.Taxi is not listed on the public registry of “information dissemination organizers.” Such organizations are required to grant Russian authorities access to all user data under the controversial “Yarovaya law,” a package of new measures and amendments to existing statutes focused on public safety and counterterrorism enacted in July 2016.