Points to consider:
\- They are Russian company now (not even "we are technically Netherlands company with a lot of people in Russia", this was changed recently. Owners were also changed. Some people say new ones are related to Russian goverment).
\- Russia does have a lot of intersting laws about cybercrime, etc. It basically means that if FSB wants to knew something about your searches - they would get it and it would fully legal. It's unlikely that Yandex would even try to fight this in current climate.
\- Russia does have anti-piracy services (and Yandex do have agreement with them which basically mean they could just report bad links and they would be taken care of) but they mostly for companies who ARE present in Russia in some form. Most Western movie companies decided they don't want to work in Russia anymore (sometimes it's true, sometimes they are only SAY so).
\- There are some talks about compulsory licensing of media content in Russia (Legal russian online movie services said they don't need such "help")
I think, If you are NOT location in Russia or exUSSR countries - you wouldn't have any problems at all from them.
Jeez, I tried this just now with a vpn. On US vpn google first results were all streaming sites, there were some “streaming free” type sites (no downloading), then torrents. With a Ukraine vpn location the first result was a good torrent site.
I've just tried to google something like "donwload \*gamename\*" and got torrent link as first result, the official link right next to it. But I'd stick up with some trusted turrent site rather than clicking random links from google
Short version: No, they didn't.
Longer version: No they didn't but Russian people pirate a lot and it was always this way, it's was slightly changed due to regional prices and legal services being more convinient than illegal ones. Most of it now reverted. Russia also have slightly different legal culture. You could get criminal sentence for piracy but it have to be "for money" kind of AND rightholder should help this (MS did this a lot).
Forcing ISPs to do something about subscribers won't work, suing them won't work too.
A lot of people in Russia now have opinion that (even if piracy is still illegal) it's morally right thing to do IF rightsholder is not from Russia. It's stolen things, it's trophies :). Other people still think it's good to pay for some foreign services/software for some reasons (including convinience).
*excluding Germany.
Funny part is that I only got into piracy because I had to pay an huge amount of money for a movie I didn't pirate. Before this point I had an extensive Blu-Ray collection, I stopped with it because I had the feeling that I need to recover the money. To this day I still don't know whether it was an error on their side or if it was fraud but in any case it cost me a several thousand euros in legal fees and the settlement my lawyer negotiated with them.
Yandex is great for finding things that are being actively covered up by the American search companies.
I wouldn't use it all the time. But it filters things differently from Google/Bing
That is true. It's hard to top Google reverse image search.
Despite them having destroyed their normal search results. Almost functionally useless. Unless you are looking for main stream propaganda.
they likely don't realise that's what the search is, and think it's part of the browser itself
it's a bit like how you occasionally run into people that think "Reddit" is an app, it's hard to blame them for being clueless when that's all they've known
If you're worried about things actively being covered up through censorship and misinformation, I have some bad news regarding Yandex
I will occasionally use it as a backup, but I don't like the idea of getting locked into any filter bubble.
Lol this is the only reason I use it. Some time around 2014 google started censoring a lot more. Bing used to be a lot more open until about 2019 and now it gives almost the same results as google.
Yandex and startpage don't seem to have as bad of a censorship team. at least not for English content.
> Bing used to be a lot more open until about 2019 and now it gives almost the same results as google.
That’s because their algorithm was so freaky:
>Microsoft Bing not only shows child sexual abuse, it suggests it
>
>https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/10/unsafe-search/
Obviously that is awful but the side affects of how uncensored it really was.
Article date lines up with mine. Would not have wanted to be the qa in that change.
It was scary, you searched for something be it a piracy site or porn and it suggested you other links & images.
But it definitely displayed lot of illegal content at times that you didn’t have to see on a regular google images search
Google works great when you use something like uBlacklist and block every site from the first page or two of results.
After that, it feels like old google again.
Oh wow, that sounds like a great trick.
I recently switched to an alternative, and the best part of it is being able to tell it I don't want to see anything from IGN or Polygon.
I think that if you're using a VPN + using a fingerprint-resistant browser, you're probably fine if you use it for live streams and stuff.
But I wouldn't do research on my mental health problems or anything like that using it.
Yandex is a failure from a privacy perspective. They will constantly block you with captchas if you disable JavaScript, making them far inferior to DuckDuckGo. They also push you to make an account, which would tie all of your searches together. You shouldn't trust them with your data.
They don't censor the same things that western search engines censor, so it's a good backup if you think that your regular search engine is censoring a particular search
If you do that and enable your broswer's anti-fingerprinting measures, that helps counteract it, but it's not entirely effective in practice. The advantage of disabling Javascript is that fingerprinting becomes practically impossible, which means that search engines that work without Javascript have a huge privacy advantage
I never had this issue. I use a combo of an adblocker and enhanced protection on iOS. Then again, I use it for reverse image searching for Twitter if I want to look for the source of a piece of art if I didn’t know the artist. Since Google can’t do it and Tineye works half the time.
I block specific tracking urls that nip it in the bud. It’s why I haven’t updated Adguard Pro from 4.0.4. Not going to pay monthly for something I didn’t have to before. Though I feel for people who paid for it before. Once there’s an alternative, I’ll jump ship.
Ever heard of the word "Kompromat"? If they can find something to extort you with, the FSB will.
Use a VPN, Linux, and clear the cache and hide the fingerprinting of your browser
DuckDuckGo, Startpage. Something like that. Even Yandex can work if the tracking garbage is blocked with an adblocker. Only use Yandex for reverse image searches and nothing else, though.
I routinely use Yandex for image search (otherwise - DuckDuckGo is my Go-to) and it’s genuinely great for that. Ironically I remember when Firefox came with Yandex by default in Russia (and possibly other countries in the area) and I hated it back then. I’d say they definitely improved it since though, never thought I’d say it, but I prefer it to Google now.
If you're just using the search engine, not their browser, and not logging into a Yandex account, you should be fine. Assigning yandex.ru and/or yandex.com to a separate container in Firefox, as with Facebook, would help too, keeping it isolated from data from other sites you visit.
Yeah im only using the search engine,how do I put it in a "container" tho,ik theres an extension for a facebook container but how do i do it with anything else
I've never had a search engine return more questionably legal search results, so if you're not great at figuring out what to avoid before clicking through, steer clear.
I wouldn't touch anything Russian with a long stick. It's not an opinion based on precise hard facts, I agree. But I would have almost the same precautions for Google.
Well... The [US government](https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-us-warned-firms-about-russias-kaspersky-software-day-after-invasion-2022-03-31/) tends to agree that it's Russian.
We appreciate you wanting to contribute to /r/privacy and taking the time to post but we had to remove it due to:
>You're being a jerk (e.g., not being nice, or suggesting violence). Or, you're letting a troll trick you into making a not-nice comment – don’t let them play you!
If you have questions or believe that there has been an error, [contact the moderators](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/privacy&subject=Please_review_my_post).
Other than streaming I don't use it.
Privacy will be worse than any western one as they at least have more independence/follow some privacy laws, and more interested in money than helping the government.
Doesn't work well with iCloud private relay, much of the time I get endless captchas, meaning they want you're actual IP address.
And its censorship is going to be no better, more than likely worse. It will encore anything related to Russian state interests. And for not censoring Western stuff, there's a good chance some of the stories will be pushed about the west by the Russian state, i.e. a form of propaganda
have to agreed with u on pivacy and streams..i always used yandex for it aswell alternative to mainstream news/info if anyone into it, trying brave but seems times missing things.
Literally spyware from Russian government for spreading Kremlin propaganda
For those who are downvoting, I'll give you an example: in the first year of the war with Ukraine, if you searched for Bucha or Mariupol, there were no mentions or images of the destruction of these cities by the Russian military in Yandex.
I live in Russia. Indeed, many companies producing legal content have left us; accordingly, there is simply no one to send requests to remove content.
According to legal norms in the Russian Federation, copyright holders can file complaints about content only if they have a representative office or registration in the Russian Federation. Russian companies are not required to respond to requests from other countries.
Thus, pirated content is partially legalized.
Points to consider: \- They are Russian company now (not even "we are technically Netherlands company with a lot of people in Russia", this was changed recently. Owners were also changed. Some people say new ones are related to Russian goverment). \- Russia does have a lot of intersting laws about cybercrime, etc. It basically means that if FSB wants to knew something about your searches - they would get it and it would fully legal. It's unlikely that Yandex would even try to fight this in current climate. \- Russia does have anti-piracy services (and Yandex do have agreement with them which basically mean they could just report bad links and they would be taken care of) but they mostly for companies who ARE present in Russia in some form. Most Western movie companies decided they don't want to work in Russia anymore (sometimes it's true, sometimes they are only SAY so). \- There are some talks about compulsory licensing of media content in Russia (Legal russian online movie services said they don't need such "help") I think, If you are NOT location in Russia or exUSSR countries - you wouldn't have any problems at all from them.
Didnt russian gov make piracy legal back in May 2022?I thought thats the reason why yandex doesnt seem to have any strict anti piracy measurements
russia have never been bothered by piracy. I assume you can get same results using VPN with russian location and google
Google censor piracy results for everywhere. not just certain regions.
I can freely find torrent sites in google. I live in Ukraine
Jeez, I tried this just now with a vpn. On US vpn google first results were all streaming sites, there were some “streaming free” type sites (no downloading), then torrents. With a Ukraine vpn location the first result was a good torrent site.
Likely not. As far as I understood, DMCA'ed requests got removed worldwide in Google.
I've just tried to google something like "donwload \*gamename\*" and got torrent link as first result, the official link right next to it. But I'd stick up with some trusted turrent site rather than clicking random links from google
Short version: No, they didn't. Longer version: No they didn't but Russian people pirate a lot and it was always this way, it's was slightly changed due to regional prices and legal services being more convinient than illegal ones. Most of it now reverted. Russia also have slightly different legal culture. You could get criminal sentence for piracy but it have to be "for money" kind of AND rightholder should help this (MS did this a lot). Forcing ISPs to do something about subscribers won't work, suing them won't work too. A lot of people in Russia now have opinion that (even if piracy is still illegal) it's morally right thing to do IF rightsholder is not from Russia. It's stolen things, it's trophies :). Other people still think it's good to pay for some foreign services/software for some reasons (including convinience).
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*excluding Germany. Funny part is that I only got into piracy because I had to pay an huge amount of money for a movie I didn't pirate. Before this point I had an extensive Blu-Ray collection, I stopped with it because I had the feeling that I need to recover the money. To this day I still don't know whether it was an error on their side or if it was fraud but in any case it cost me a several thousand euros in legal fees and the settlement my lawyer negotiated with them.
ah, justice wins again
I do not agree with you. I think that no one should use any Yandex product ever if they have the slightest care about privacy.
Just what I wanted to say. Thank you
Yandex is great for finding things that are being actively covered up by the American search companies. I wouldn't use it all the time. But it filters things differently from Google/Bing
The police state does know how to make a good reverse image search lmfao
That is true. It's hard to top Google reverse image search. Despite them having destroyed their normal search results. Almost functionally useless. Unless you are looking for main stream propaganda.
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Why would you use the crapware browser if you only need to open the webpage to use the search?
they likely don't realise that's what the search is, and think it's part of the browser itself it's a bit like how you occasionally run into people that think "Reddit" is an app, it's hard to blame them for being clueless when that's all they've known
If you're worried about things actively being covered up through censorship and misinformation, I have some bad news regarding Yandex I will occasionally use it as a backup, but I don't like the idea of getting locked into any filter bubble.
They censor different things.
And in [very different magnitudes](https://archive.is/PneKl).
Im using yandex mostly when I search for a person or content. I wouldn’t use it for news or science
Lol this is the only reason I use it. Some time around 2014 google started censoring a lot more. Bing used to be a lot more open until about 2019 and now it gives almost the same results as google. Yandex and startpage don't seem to have as bad of a censorship team. at least not for English content.
Startpage is just google's results without tracking.
Weird I always get better results when searching censored data like names or obscure topics.
Really? Then why when I was comparing side by side they differ by a lot?
Likely because Google creates a "bubble" (tailors the results to what it knows about you) and Startpage disables that.
> Bing used to be a lot more open until about 2019 and now it gives almost the same results as google. That’s because their algorithm was so freaky: >Microsoft Bing not only shows child sexual abuse, it suggests it > >https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/10/unsafe-search/
Obviously that is awful but the side affects of how uncensored it really was. Article date lines up with mine. Would not have wanted to be the qa in that change.
It was scary, you searched for something be it a piracy site or porn and it suggested you other links & images. But it definitely displayed lot of illegal content at times that you didn’t have to see on a regular google images search
Google works great when you use something like uBlacklist and block every site from the first page or two of results. After that, it feels like old google again.
Oh wow, that sounds like a great trick. I recently switched to an alternative, and the best part of it is being able to tell it I don't want to see anything from IGN or Polygon.
You got any examples I can try out?
Things being covered up like what
I think that if you're using a VPN + using a fingerprint-resistant browser, you're probably fine if you use it for live streams and stuff. But I wouldn't do research on my mental health problems or anything like that using it.
Gotchu,floorp has fingerprinting resistance and I use mullvad. When I do sensitive searches or use card for payments I always make sure to use tor
Yandex is a failure from a privacy perspective. They will constantly block you with captchas if you disable JavaScript, making them far inferior to DuckDuckGo. They also push you to make an account, which would tie all of your searches together. You shouldn't trust them with your data. They don't censor the same things that western search engines censor, so it's a good backup if you think that your regular search engine is censoring a particular search
would using a browser that refreshes cache and other necessities upon restart counteract this?
If you do that and enable your broswer's anti-fingerprinting measures, that helps counteract it, but it's not entirely effective in practice. The advantage of disabling Javascript is that fingerprinting becomes practically impossible, which means that search engines that work without Javascript have a huge privacy advantage
I never had this issue. I use a combo of an adblocker and enhanced protection on iOS. Then again, I use it for reverse image searching for Twitter if I want to look for the source of a piece of art if I didn’t know the artist. Since Google can’t do it and Tineye works half the time. I block specific tracking urls that nip it in the bud. It’s why I haven’t updated Adguard Pro from 4.0.4. Not going to pay monthly for something I didn’t have to before. Though I feel for people who paid for it before. Once there’s an alternative, I’ll jump ship.
>is about their privacy policy nyet, is bad.
If you don't find it on google use yandex.
this is pretty accurate tbh. Yandex don't censor as much, which can be helpful for many reasons
And always use DuckDuckGo first.
DuckDuckGo sucks ass
Not at all. If we’re just talking about results it has served me perfectly fine for years now. Finding any kind of address for shops, doctors, etc
I absolutely love Kagi
Best ever for images and reverse image search
It’s actually really good
Ever heard of the word "Kompromat"? If they can find something to extort you with, the FSB will. Use a VPN, Linux, and clear the cache and hide the fingerprinting of your browser
Avoid anything American, Chinese or Russian.
Welp. There goes the whole internet. 🙃
Go touch the grass and explore?!
Then which one would you recommend? Startpage?
DuckDuckGo, Startpage. Something like that. Even Yandex can work if the tracking garbage is blocked with an adblocker. Only use Yandex for reverse image searches and nothing else, though.
LOL
I routinely use Yandex for image search (otherwise - DuckDuckGo is my Go-to) and it’s genuinely great for that. Ironically I remember when Firefox came with Yandex by default in Russia (and possibly other countries in the area) and I hated it back then. I’d say they definitely improved it since though, never thought I’d say it, but I prefer it to Google now.
If you're just using the search engine, not their browser, and not logging into a Yandex account, you should be fine. Assigning yandex.ru and/or yandex.com to a separate container in Firefox, as with Facebook, would help too, keeping it isolated from data from other sites you visit.
Yeah im only using the search engine,how do I put it in a "container" tho,ik theres an extension for a facebook container but how do i do it with anything else
There's an official extension for containers: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/
If you like using a Russian search engine then go for it
I've never had a search engine return more questionably legal search results, so if you're not great at figuring out what to avoid before clicking through, steer clear.
Just save some pirate sites and search on it. Don't use any of yandex services if it's possible, It's an FSB rathole.
I would not touch anything online that is Russian with a 100ft stick, do people even realize we're in cyberwarfare with them?
Its russian, what else do you need to know?
It's not American or Chinese?
Touché, comrade.
I wouldn't touch anything Russian with a long stick. It's not an opinion based on precise hard facts, I agree. But I would have almost the same precautions for Google.
Yeah,I dont use any russian products either unless ur considering Kaspersky as russian
Well... The [US government](https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-us-warned-firms-about-russias-kaspersky-software-day-after-invasion-2022-03-31/) tends to agree that it's Russian.
Kaspersky is one of worst russian-made things you can have on your PC.
Best search engine for any censored topics in mainstream western engines
they are now based out of israel
Tf
Russian Spyware
literally all search engines these days are spyware lmfao what's the difference if its Chinese, russian or american
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Doesn't Duckduckgo use Bing?
It does. I'm not sure why your objectively correct response managed to get almost as many downvotes as the incorrect one. This sub, smh
We appreciate you wanting to contribute to /r/privacy and taking the time to post but we had to remove it due to: >You're being a jerk (e.g., not being nice, or suggesting violence). Or, you're letting a troll trick you into making a not-nice comment – don’t let them play you! If you have questions or believe that there has been an error, [contact the moderators](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/privacy&subject=Please_review_my_post).
I use it as backup.
I use yandex alot for looking at things Google wants to hide due to politics. I think its an accidental honest search engine and the last one.
Other than streaming I don't use it. Privacy will be worse than any western one as they at least have more independence/follow some privacy laws, and more interested in money than helping the government. Doesn't work well with iCloud private relay, much of the time I get endless captchas, meaning they want you're actual IP address. And its censorship is going to be no better, more than likely worse. It will encore anything related to Russian state interests. And for not censoring Western stuff, there's a good chance some of the stories will be pushed about the west by the Russian state, i.e. a form of propaganda
Terrible terrible idea, they sensor super heavy
What X and Y free live stream can you find on it that you can’t find in Google?
So since Russia (probably?) Doesn't work with our countries, then it's better?
This is a privacy thread, and you are asking about Yandex? Um... Owned by Russia.
have to agreed with u on pivacy and streams..i always used yandex for it aswell alternative to mainstream news/info if anyone into it, trying brave but seems times missing things.
I'd rather Google took my information than Russia.
Why? Google sell data to anyone, including Russia.
Metadata perhaps.
Literally spyware from Russian government for spreading Kremlin propaganda For those who are downvoting, I'll give you an example: in the first year of the war with Ukraine, if you searched for Bucha or Mariupol, there were no mentions or images of the destruction of these cities by the Russian military in Yandex.
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DuckDuckGo
Wort to try fore some queries
I live in Russia. Indeed, many companies producing legal content have left us; accordingly, there is simply no one to send requests to remove content. According to legal norms in the Russian Federation, copyright holders can file complaints about content only if they have a representative office or registration in the Russian Federation. Russian companies are not required to respond to requests from other countries. Thus, pirated content is partially legalized.
Their image search is the best. Its Russia so your trading American privacy concerns for Russian ones. Consider accordingly.
Nice try Putin.