A streaming platform with a dangerous twist: your data is not safe
In recent months, a new digital player has emerged in the Middle East: Yango Play. At first glance, it presents itself as an “Arab” streaming platform headquartered in Dubai, offering popular films, series, music, and even original productions. But behind this façade lies a far more complex, and troubling reality.
The story traces back to Russia in 1997, with the founding of Yandex by Arkady Volozh, a Russian tech entrepreneur of Kazakh origin. What is less known, however, is that Volozh also holds Israeli citizenship and resides in Tel Aviv. Yandex quickly grew to become “Russia’s Google,” offering search, maps, e-commerce, ride-hailing, and delivery services.
After the outbreak of the Russia–Ukraine war in 2022, Yandex was hit by Western sanctions and forced into a major corporate restructuring. The result was the creation of two new groups:
1️⃣ Nebius Group – focusing on AI and cloud technologies, headquartered in Amsterdam but with most of its operations based in Israel. According to The Times of Israel, Nebius has recently been selected to build a national Israeli AI supercomputer worth billions of dollars.
2️⃣ Yango Group – retaining Yandex’s international operations, including ride-hailing, delivery services, and eventually branching out into media with the launch of Yango Play in early 2024.
While Yango Group established its headquarters in Dubai, it simultaneously maintained registered companies and commercial operations in Israel, including Yango Taxi and Yango Deli. This dual presence raises critical questions about the true independence of Yango Play.
The concerns grow deeper when examining the platform’s legal entity: a little-known company called Funtech Loyalty Card Services L.L.C., which appears on official app store documentation. With almost no traceable background, ownership, or funding details, this “shell company” is legally responsible for all user agreements — effectively the entity to which users grant full access to their devices.
And the access is extensive. By downloading Yango Play, users authorize the app to collect their search history, files, photos, videos, location history, audio recordings, and personal data including phone numbers and social media-linked emails.
A recent investigation even revealed that at least 12 administrators managing Yango Play’s official Facebook page were based in Israel — before their names were quickly removed following exposure.
This leads to an unsettling possibility: not only could the platform be collecting vast amounts of sensitive user data, but its editorial direction and marketing strategy may also be influenced by Israeli-linked entities.
In today’s world, such data is more powerful than any weapon. It can shape behavior, alter perceptions, and subtly re-engineer cultural and political narratives. A seemingly innocent streaming service could, in reality, be a sophisticated tool for data harvesting and soft-power influence across the Arab world.
So the question remains: Is Yango Play truly an “Arab entertainment platform,” or are millions of users unknowingly part of one of the region’s largest data and influence operations disguised as digital entertainment?