possible to seek permission to fly. In the absence of country-specific
drone regulations, operators should aim to follow the UK CAA
standards.
• Failure to adhere to the aviation regulations could lead to a criminal
prosecution.
• Drones can be ‘highly privacy intrusive’ and a privacy impact assessment
may be necessary to comply with the Information Commissioner’s Office
guidance and the General Data Protection Regulation which came into
law on 24 May 2016 (and will apply from 25 May 2018).
• Drones should not normally be used to identify individuals without their
consent, or capture close-up images of private areas such as houses,
gardens or offices without the consent of the owner, unless these areas
can be seen from a public vantage point or there is a public interest in
showing them.
• Any proposal to film with a drone where there is a privacy intrusion and
consent is not obtained should be regarded as a proposal for secret
filming which must be approved in advance.
• When assessing whether to use user generated content filmed from a
drone we should consider whether the drone flight breached any of the
CAA standard restrictions on drone flights and whether or not the
person in charge of the drone should have held a Permission for Aerial
Work (PFAW) certificate from the CAA.
• Where the BBC is offered user generated content and it appears the
drone flight put the safety of people or property at risk or has otherwise
been carried out illegally, including a breach of aviation regulations, any
use of the footage gathered must be justified in the public interest. Any
proposal to broadcast such footage must be referred to a senior editorial
figure, or for independents, to the commissioning editor. Referral must
also be made to Director Editorial Policy and Standards and Programme
Legal Advice may be consulted.
• Any proposal to pay for such footage (see bullet point above) must be
referred to a senior editorial figure, or for independents, to the
commissioning editor. Referral must also be made to Director Editorial
Policy, before negotiations on payments are conducted. Programme Legal
Advice may also be consulted.
• The BBC must not ask a contributor, or third party, who does not have a
required PFAW from the CAA and liability insurance, to conduct a flight
or gather footage from one on our behalf.
• The person in charge of the drone is legally responsible for the safety of
the each flight and must take all possible measures to mitigate the risks of
a collision.