Google may have shared data with sanctioned Russian ad company, report finds

According to a report by ProPublica, a Russian ad tech company owned by Russia's largest state bank may have been sharing user data with the search engine. Four months ago, the Senate Intelligence Committee warned the tech giant to be on the lookout for exploitation by Russia and Russia-linked entities.

According to research and data from a digital ad analysis firm, a Russian company that helps brands and agencies buy digital ads was able to access and store data about people in Ukraine and other parts of the world. Despite being added to the U.S. Treasury's list of sanctions, the ad tech company was still receiving user data from the search engine. The data sharing between the two would not stop until June 23, according to ProPublica.

According to the Treasury and ProPublica, Sberbank is an important part of the country's economy. Sberbank was added to the US Treasury's list of Russian entities and people.

The analysis showed that the data was shared by the search engine. Critical information such as unique mobile phone IDs, internet protocol addresses, location information, and details about online activity could be used by the Russian government to track people.

The company had blocked the company from using its services. Before ProPublica and Adalytics were aware of this, user and ad buying data from the internet giant was still being received. The company did not respond immediately.

The data from global internet users that gets passed around to companies in the digital ad buying process is one of the biggest concerns. This treasure trove of user data, called bidstream data, is used as part of a half a trillion dollar digital ad industry that is dominated by a single company.

This data is auctioned off in real-time when users visit a site, and it is shared with potential ad buyers to help them decide whether to show an ad to the user. If an ad buying company bids, they can receive and store this data. Since Google operates the world's largest ad-buying exchange, the more RuTarget connects with it, the more information it can gather.

At a time of increased scrutiny of tech companies from legislators concerned with how tech companies are handling our personal data, the findings of the relationship between the two companies are interesting.

Millions of websites and apps rely on the company for advertising revenue, according to ProPublica. As a recipient of user data in cookie consent popups shown to users browsing their sites from the EU and other jurisdictions with data privacy laws requiring such disclosures, information from major publishers likeESPN and Reuters was accessible to RuTarget.

The findings are troubling. The average consumer wouldn't want to know that their information was being shared with a Russian company. At the time of this writing, a class-action lawsuit has been filed against the company, accusing it of not telling account holders which companies are bidding on their personal information.