Swedish author and famous pro-Ukraine blogger Lars Wilderäng (Cornucopia) reports today that the Swedish security expert Karl Emil Nikka has revealed that Kagi is using the Kremlin propaganda tool Yandex as a backend for searches.
Wilderäng speculates this might mean search terms are leaking to Russia, while others worry about how Kremlin thus can get their talking points into western search results.
Security expert Karl Emil Nikka tells us that the search engine Kagi, popular among tech geeks, uses Russian Yandex, which was introduced after the full-scale invasion. This, of course, gives Russia the opportunity to look at what is searched for via Kagi.
Link (in Swedish), see 11:22 update: https://cornucopia.se/2024/10/uppdateras-ryssland-medger-bruk-av-c-stridsmedel-mot-ukraina-rysk-pilot-som-mordade-68-ukrainare-ihjalslagen-med-hammare-bland-de-allra-storsta-ryska-forlusterna-under-kriget-igar/
I expected something more shocking when I read “working with Russia”.
Kagi uses multiple search backends, and of course it needs to forward search terms to these backends. These backends probably can’t trace the searches back to the individual Kagi user though, but Yandex could still analyze search trends for example.
What’s worse is that - unless they use Yandex’ API for free - customers indirectly (and likely unknowingly) support a Russian company with their paid Kagi subscription.
Kagi should at the very least release a statement about this claim.
oof
And I was just thinking about getting a subscription.
Time to selfhost SearXNG instead.
Can’t you just not enable the Yandex backend if you’re selfhosting searx?
Ugh politics again. I hope the admins take this down very soon.
Lemmy.ml is known for terrible moderation but I chose it just because I was new and it was official. Now I’d probably choose something else.
They’re known specifically for being pro-Russia, which is what made the comment amusing.
Still not possible to transfer your account to other instances. https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1985
It’s more about the fact that kagi pays yandex and yandex pays taxes to one of the craziest goverment in the world
Hmmm keeping an eye on this thank you.
Yandex is a really good search engine 🤷♂️
Many of Yandex’s employees resigned in protest, accusing the company of serving as a tool of Kremlin propaganda and actively concealing information about the war.
