Commercial Drones and Privacy of Operators — Lessons to Be Learned from EU Recommendation?
The European Union is far ahead of the United States when it comes to regulating commercial drone use. The EU’s position is much friendlier to commercial use than the recently proposed FAA rules in the United States. However, the EU has just released a report on the Civilian Use of Drones in the EU that is notable in one particular respect that could impact privacy laws and regulations presently being considered at various levels throughout the United States, both federal and State. The EU’s report recommends requiring identification of all drones and drone operators. The EU report considers such identification “essential to enforce existing and future laws governing [drone] use.” I have previously written about California legislative efforts to protect privacy from drone users. But no law in the United States to my knowledge has required identification of drone operators, or registration of drones. Privacy implications to drone operators could be significant.