Yandex Launches Its Own Street View for Moscow, No Apprehensions about Privacy

Yesterday Yandex made a move that was quite predictable given the fact that the leading Russian search engine began copying various Google products quite a while ago and has enough power to promote such products in Russia given its leading position in the online market of the country. The latest addition to its range of services is panoramic view of the streets of Moscow - similar to what Google Street View now does for many countries of the world.

In cooperation with a virtual tours provider Yandex has uploaded panoramic view of all the streets of the city center and of many other streets of Moscow so you can actually see how the houses on a map look like and actually travel around Moscow if you are willing to see this city but are not really into actually going to visit the country. And since on Google Maps you can only get user-uploaded photos of Moscow for now, having an alternative from Yandex may be exactly what you need if you’ve been dreaming about seeing the city for years.

Of course when such a service is launched, one can’t help but wonder about privacy issues as Google Street View has been a popular target among people unhappy about seeing themselves on Street View doing something they were not supposed to do. But in the press release announcing the new service and in their comments Yandex seems to not really tremble about privacy and never promises to blur people or their property out of the shots following their requests in the future.

Right now on the streets of Moscow you can see real people, their cars and whatever was there when the streets were shot - and chances are this is how it will remain even if some people decide to protest. The reason is that in Russia no permission is needed from people when they are parts of panoramic photos taken in public spaces unless these people are actually the main subject of the shot. This is the policy Yandex is going to follow and the only reason they quote as good enough for blurring something out of the photos is upon request of law enforcement agencies - otherwise people or their property will remain.

All in all, privacy is not such a big issue in Russia as it is in the US and Western Europe so I would not expect many citizens protesting against seeing themselves or their cars on Yandex - even though some people will probably be unhappy if they have some of their dirty little secrets revealed by Yandex new service. So from now on Yandex will have a very realistic picture of Moscow on Yandex Maps, especially if you manage to read Russian good enough to know where to click.