Regulation and Operation of Drones: A Threat to Privacy

Agrim Jain and Anshika Saxena
Amity Law School, Delhi, India

Volume III, Issue IV, 2020

In the present paper, the authors seek to analyze the impact of the increased use of the drones in today’s economy. Drones in technical sense refers to an unarmed aircraft or formally known as the unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or unmanned Aircraft Systems. It may also be defined as a flying robot which is monitored or controlled by with the help of a remote control or through the help of downloaded software and works in coordination with the onboard sensors and the GPS. Drones are being used for a variety of purposes depending upon the type of the drone being used, the drone can be used either for military use, commercial use or even for general civil purposes by the common public. It is this increased use of drones which has raised fears regarding the privacy of the citizens of the world and along with this there have been numerous incidents of drones causing interference in Air-traffic or there are also cases of cyber-fraud being committed through the help of drones. Privacy of individuals, being now declared as a fundamental right of the individuals across the globe, has risen as the most important concern to be solved in the modern economy. This in all and all has necessitated the need of stricter regulations being imposed on the use of drones, and countries across the world have come up with different legislations to control the disturbance created due to the use of drones. The present paper studies the extent of interference caused by drones in the context of right to privacy of the individuals in both national and international spheres. Through the scope of this paper we will try to understand the basics of drones, the uses to which it can be put, the problems with the increased use of drones, the legislations National and International and the possible way forward to manage all the activities.

Keywords: UAVs, Drones, Military, Commercial, Privacy, Cyber-Fraud, Air-traffic, Fundamental Right, Legislations, National and International Spheres.