It is no secret that information technology, providing so many amenities and opportunities, has the flip side of the coin. They can easily be abused for various purposes in relation to ordinary users. The most significant in terms of distribution and potential danger is network espionage and theft of personal data. Moreover, in such actions, even influential, extremely popular Internet corporations, such as Yandex, were noticed. How does Yandex monitor user operations?
It is definitely difficult to answer this question, since such information, of course, is not official. However, it is known that Yandex monitors the actions of users on network resources for further ranking of sites. This is at least.
The theory of total surveillance by Yandex includes several specific assumptions about how it can be implemented. The following is a list of the main probable espionage routes through which Yandex monitors users.
Service "Yandex.Bar"
The first in the list of suspicious Yandex services is Yandex.Bar. According to many users, it allows you to monitor which pages and sites a user visits on the Web. The main area of use for data thus obtained is site indexing. Directly for sites, this is not dangerous, on the other hand, no one gives any guarantees to anyone, and tomorrow everything can change.
Service "Yandex.Metrica"
This service is one of the most unreliable users in terms of information security. In a significant number of cases, it is he who most likely allows explaining how Yandex monitors user operations.
By itself, this service creates and provides site owners with a statistical report on the actions of resource visitors. That is, it captures and transmits all the data about what, when, where, and how you did on a particular site. The main thing is that the resource is connected to the service.
The Yandex.Metrica service has all the information about user actions, however it can be dangerous for the site owners themselves, affecting its position in the TOP, up to and including complete exclusion from it.
"Yandex Mail"
Many users are also distrustful of the Yandex mail service. Of course, if Yandex has established itself as an unsafe search engine, then all the more it makes no sense to trust it with personal information concentrated in personal mail correspondence. It is difficult to say how much these suspicions correspond to reality. Basically, the assumptions about how Yandex monitors Internet users converge to the version that there is an automated service that, with the help of certain filters, sifts information, collecting the necessary data. Where and why she sends them remains a mystery.
Punto switcher
The most original theory explaining how Yandex monitors user operations is to criminalize ... Punto Switcher. Since the program itself belongs to Yandex, some users claim that it is used by him for the purpose of collecting and transmitting personal data. Checking this is not easy, and there are not enough precedents in the practice of users to be able to seriously sound the alarm. Nevertheless, there is no evidence to the contrary, that is, that this and similar software are absolutely safe. Hypothetically, the possibility of using Punto Switcher for espionage is quite possible.
Service "Yandex.Webvisor"
Yandex Webvisor is a very suspicious service by nature. And given its capabilities, we can assume that it represents the number one contender for the role of chief spy. By its functionality, Webvisor largely duplicates Yandex.Metrica. However, speaking about how Yandex monitors user operations, it should be noted that WebVisor not only collects information about users visiting the resource, but also makes a video of their specific actions: navigating through pages, scrolling through them, opening one or another window, viewing photos and videos - in general, everything, up to simple cursor movements on the user's display.
Conclusion
Many or many site owners use the same or other Yandex services. It is difficult to name the exact figure, but, most likely, at least half of the Runet is under their control. The magnitude of the information received from them can hardly be overestimated if at least half of the suspicions turn out to be true. How is this information used now and how can it theoretically be used in the future?