Russian telecom watchdog wants clarification after Google Docs appear in Yandex

Russian watchdog Roskomnadzor wants to know from search engine Yandex why Google Docs files have recently appeared in search results. Among other things, files containing personal passwords could be found.

The government organization has announced this via the Russian news agency TASS. According to Roskomnadzor, on the night of July 5, Google Docs files suddenly appeared in Yandex search results. This probably concerns personal files that should not have been made public; some Docs contained personal passwords and other personal data.

Whether Yandex still shows Docs in the search results is unknown, but it is likely that this is a short-lived error. Google has said that files can only appear in search engines if they are shared by the owner.

Yandex itself has not yet responded to the incident. As soon as there is a response to the questions Roskomnadzor has posed to Yandex, the former will publish it on its website. The search engine is owned by a Russian company and is the largest in Russia.