In recent years Russian internet company Yandex has expanded its maps with high definition 360 degree aerial photos of Latvia. As reported by LTV programme De Facto, some of those photos may have been taken in violation of restrictions imposed in the country.
The photos taken 100-200 m off the ground feature not just the most popular tourist destinations
but also railway hubs, bridges, hydroelectric power plants and communication towers.
For example, approximately 50 photos were taken from a bird’s-eye view in Riga alone. There are even more photos of Daugavpils taken like that. The head of Latvian Civil Aviation Agency’s (CAA) unmanned aircraft flight safety office Ilmārs Ozols told the programme that the agency does not have sufficient information to say for certain what technical means were used to take those photos.
Neither Yandex nor their representatives turned to CAA to request special permission for manned flights. Yandex is not registered in the unmanned aircraft register, the programme reports. CAA allows that the Russian company may have outsourced this task to a local company. However, it is also possible the images may have been published by Yandex users. However, the most likely version is that an unmanned drone was used.
Ozols told the LTV programme that for altitudes under 120 m, which is the altitude generally restricted to drones, there are no special requirements to coordinate activities in order to take photos. However, there are other rules, such as rules for the protection of privacy, trade secrets and critical infrastructure objects. He said that at least some of the photos in question may be in breach of those rules.
Yandex gave De Facto a written response, in which the company claimed photos were taken by users.
«Yandex Maps, like many other map services, offer residents from different countries the option to post panorama photos on our maps. We check to make sure photos do not contain hate speech, private interiors or any possible violations of privacy or other social norms. We can also remove photos upon legal requests,» informs Yandex press-office.
The programme stresses: Yandex features only a handful of panorama photos across the entire European Union.
Latvia the photo campaign took three years: 2019, 2020 and 2021. All of the photos are of equally high quality.
Latvian State Security Service (VDD) explained in a written comment to the programme that before diversions, sabotage and acts of terror are performed on objects of national importance, those responsible first gather detailed information. This includes video footage and photos. At the same time, VDD notes that the photos available on Yandex are not of high enough quality for such purposes.
«VDD believes the photos available on Yandex Maps do not provide a clear enough picture of objects of national importance and critical infrastructure to obtain intelligence-relevant information about local security,» the service wrote in its response.