Civilian Use of Drones (EUC Report)

Viscount Astor Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2015 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Astor (Con)]

My Lords, this summer I spent an afternoon learning to fly a drone. It is not very difficult and it is great fun. With an iPhone and a camera, one can fly within line of sight, which is legal, but it is also easy to put in way-points via a GPS and set the drone to fly a circuit out of sight, which is not legal but is the way that Amazon is testing delivering goods to customers.

One can fly close to a window and not only photograph people but listen to and record conversations. Drones can be big, noisy and easily spotted, or they can be small, hardly bigger than a bumble-bee and very quiet. One’s garden may no longer be a private place, and it is with the rights of the individual compared with the rules of the drone operator that we should be concerned.

At the moment, the rules are complicated. The CAA has given permission for more than 850 drones to be used by commercial operators. There are thousands more drones sold for as little as £200 as children’s toys, with more expensive ones for teenagers and sophisticated ones for enthusiasts—most of whom have no idea about the CAA rules. Does the Minister have any idea how many drones are sold in this country? Even if the purchasers know a bit, do they really know about the Air Navigation Order? They also have to contend with the Data Protection Act and the CCTV code of practice, which regulates the use of images of people that are collected without their consent. The CCTV code of practice states that,

“it will be good practice for domestic users to be aware of the potential privacy intrusion which the use of UAS can cause to make sure they’re used in a responsible manner”.

That is a sound piece of advice, but it is not written on the box when you buy a drone, nor are the CAA regulations. Should not manufacturers have to attach some advice on the use of drones to their packaging?

It is a complicated legal minefield. I do not know what one does if one finds a drone hovering a few feet above the ground in one’s garden, contrary to the CAA rules. Is it legal or illegal to knock it down or disable it? How does one know who owns it or who is flying the machine?

This is a new industry. It is largely unregulated, with rules that are very relaxed. The rules are perhaps a little more thought-out in the US, where they have had longer experience of drones. I am not calling for overregulation—I dislike gold-plated regulations—but I support the conclusions of the committee’s report. I congratulate my noble friend and her committee on her very important report, but I am concerned about the right to our quiet, relaxed enjoyment, whether it be in a town or in the countryside. We must not allow it to be ruined by the constant drone of drones.

Noble Lords have highlighted the danger of collisions with aircraft and of flying close to military bases and nuclear facilities. Enthusiasts claim that no one has been killed or seriously injured so far, but I fear that it is a question of not if an accident will happen but when. We should not have to wait until an accident, however minor or major, or for someone to be injured, to have a sensible plan of action.

Drones have uses. They have been used to film accidents to help the rescue services, but they have also hindered them. An important question raised by the report is: should drone users have some form of insurance to protect themselves, as well as anyone whom they injure? In California, a Bill has been proposed that bans drones from flying lower than 350 feet over private property without the consent of the owner or occupier. It has been said, though, that that is just to allow film stars to get married in their garden without being filmed from above so that they can then sell their wedding pictures for a vast sum of money to the appropriate magazine.

Interestingly enough, Amazon is lobbying in California, where drone technology seems to be more advanced than anywhere else, for the airspace for drones to be designated between 200 feet and 400 feet for the autonomous drones to deliver their goods, with other aircraft unable to fly in that space. It is interesting to know whether the drones will have to fly down a public road, the highway or over private property.

Of course, drones can be very useful in delivery. They can be useful as lifesavers delivering water or medical supplies in remote areas, although they have a limited flight time. They have many surprising uses, one of which I witnessed last year. Crossing the Empty Quarter in Saudi Arabia, our Bedouin guide produced a drone from his sack and flew it ahead over a dune so that he could see the best way for the camels to come down the other side of the hill. It is extraordinary how many people have drones and use them.

This debate and report will give much needed clarity to some of the issues that the Government will face. It is important that we allow this industry to grow and flourish, but that we also safeguard the rights of the ordinary citizens, so that they can enjoy themselves without the constant intrusion of invasions of privacy or finding themselves threatened by improper use of a drone.