At first, Amazon drone delivery was just an April Fool’s prank, but the company now has Federal Aviation Administration approval in the US, eights months after the request was made, and continues to set its sights on the UK market. The Canadian city of Richmond, meanwhile, has just banned these airborne vehicles, so, what is the legal position here?
Nicole Livesey, senior associate at Pinsent Masons law firm, gives Tech City News the scoop.
There’s been a lot of talk around the topic of drones recently and whether the British legal system is prepared to deal with issues that might arise with the use of drones. The legislation currently in place covers the basics: issues relating to data protection, injury, and trespass that may come as a consequence of drone usage. However, despite the breadth and adaptability of these laws, there have been concerns that current regulations do not effectively cover all angles with regards to the potential risks of drones, which has led to the House of Lords EU Committee calling for a drone owner’s register.
The proposed register will comprise a database which will store the details of all business and professional drone users. This would later expand to include consumers as well and if this register comes into existence, the public would be able to access information relating to drone flights through an app, highlighting how widely used they will become.
The comparatively relaxed nature, or lack of specific, legislation on drone use in the UK has already begun to attract foreign corporations. The retail giant Amazon announced in December 2013 that it was working towards unveiling a drone delivery system, designed to deliver orders to Prime users within 30 minutes or less. In spite of a large proportion of the media dismissing this as a publicity stunt, the company has now begun developing drones fast and agile enough to provide the service. However, Amazon has been forced to come to the UK to discuss drone delivery testing due to the heavy restrictions on drone use in the United States. The company is now in talks with Robert Goodwill, the transport minister to test the system in the UK.
As it stands, current UK restrictions on drone use are that they must be flown within the line of sight of the pilot – legally set to be approximately 1,500 ft and below an altitude of 400 ft. Drones can be used beyond these limits – however, to do so approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is required. The same is true for all commercial uses of drones in the UK. While the leniency here is promising for businesses who intend to use the technology, there will clearly be a need in the future to adapt the legislation to cater for new technology and develop with changing trends. It is very likely that the CAA will have to adapt its rules for air navigation – in the event of an accident who would be liable for fault or negligence? The pilot who set the flight path or the manufacturer of the drone?
The flexibility of current legislation in Britain sets the ideal conditions for development of this technology – had the British government begun to enact new legislation in preparation for the technology it would simply be premature. Whilst key issues that receive much focus in the drone industry in the UK is how to deal with incidents, data protection and privacy, a more immediate concern that touches upon many of the issues surrounding drones is the ability to monitor the movement and use of drones. The proposed register is a move in the right direction for dealing with this issue – however, it relies heavily on the compliance of drone owners, something that will be difficult to police. The ideal solution for this would be to fit all drones with GPS trackers to monitor their flight paths, but this itself returns to the potential issues of data protection and privacy.
In spite of the legislative challenges that might arise with the development of the British drone industry, there is still significant promise for growth. The British legal system is currently very adaptable and will support the industry’s development. However, over-regulation might stifle the drone industry which is predicted to be responsible for creating up to 150,000 jobs across Europe come 2050 and what a shame that would be.