UAV Operations: The European Union Legal Framework on Privacy and Data Protection

In the last years, people have been forced to accept a progressive curtailment of their privacy rights in order to enjoy greater security, better customer service and the enormous opportunities offered by the Internet and its enabling technologies. Concerns have been expressed on the loss of control of one’s personal data that can be spread everywhere through the social networks without control. UAVs are able to collect data much more efficiently than either satellites or manned aircraft ever could. Nevertheless, they (in particular micro drones) represent a real danger for privacy rights as they can collect high-resolution images and videos, telephone conversations, and intercept electronic communications and any other wave or signal depending on the payload installed on-board. They can also recognise faces, or even detect ‘abnormal behaviour’ and identify human targets. Finally, future solar-power drones will also be able to ‘stay in the air forever’ becoming a continuous surveillance tool in the hand of public authorities. Until now, UAVs have been employed predominantly by States, mainly for security purposes, however, UAV technology is becoming increasingly accessible to private undertakings and even individuals. UAVs can be easily fitted with cheap payloads, including, cameras and other sensors to collect data. This opens a quite dangerous scenario whereby individuals must now guard themselves from intrusions by other individuals. Consequently, on many occasions the European Commission has expressed its concern about the proliferation of surveillance tools, especially in regards to UAVs. Several privacy risks may arise in relation to the processing of data collected by the equipment on-board a UAV. Such risks can range from a lack of transparency due to the difficulty of being able to view small and micro drones from the ground, to a difficulty in knowing the purposes for which the personal data is being collected.