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submitted 1 day ago by troed@fedia.io to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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/

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[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 hour ago

they are also worki g with the us 🙄

[-] CHOPSTEEQ@lemmy.ml 36 points 21 hours ago

It’s not a fucking reveal, Kagi tells you exactly what engines they include in their results.

[-] JustMarkov@lemmy.ml 8 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

You know what? DuckDuckGo uses Yahoo results, they must be working with the US government! What a nonesense.

[-] narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee 102 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

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.

[-] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 14 points 1 day ago

I am surpised yandex aint sanctioned tbh

[-] scorp@lemmy.ml 13 points 22 hours ago

probably because us government employees use its reverse image search for how good it is

[-] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 6 points 22 hours ago

Google nuked that feature... Hmmm

[-] lemming741@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago

Same, but it's great for finding things US companies want taken down

[-] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 13 points 1 day ago

As much as i hate russia and their bullshit, you aint wrong.

A shrewd internet enjoyer could be using it as a cross reference to check their beloved megacorps offering🐸

[-] Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

Yandex is a really good search engine 🤷‍♂️

[-] troed@fedia.io 9 points 1 day ago

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.

https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/publications/zois-spotlight/the-sad-fate-of-yandex-from-independent-tech-startup-to-kremlin-propaganda-tool

[-] Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml 5 points 16 hours ago

Go search palestine or ukraine on google news and tell me if you see unbiased news 😉

[-] TonoManza@lemmygrad.ml 14 points 23 hours ago

Every search engine ever is biased in the results it will show you.

You have to learn the biases and not fall prey to them.

If you think you're using an unbiased source then all you've done is failed to recognize them.

[-] HaleHirsute@infosec.pub 1 points 1 day ago

Hmmm keeping an eye on this thank you.

[-] Deckweiss@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago

oof

And I was just thinking about getting a subscription.

Time to selfhost SearXNG instead.

[-] velox_vulnus@lemmy.ml 29 points 1 day ago

SearXNG also supports Yandex as one of the many search-engine backend.

[feat] engine: implementation of yandex (web, images) #3733

[-] liliumstar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 15 hours ago

Note that Yandex has an aggressive captcha, so it doesn't really work with SearXNG in its current state. Tested a couple weeks ago.

[-] BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 day ago

Can't you just not enable the Yandex backend if you're selfhosting searx?

[-] velox_vulnus@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

You can disable any backend on SearXNG, Stract, 4get or some other self-hosted FOSS alternative. However, for Kagi, there's this feature called lenses, which probably works in the same way as Stract's Optics - not sure if it allows blocking of a particular search-engine service.

[-] BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago

Gotcha, that sounds like searx is a good option then. At first I thought you were giving a reason why searx isn't a suitable alternative as the gp comment is downvoted a bunch.

this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2024
64 points (72.5% liked)

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