Table Of Content

Civilian Drones, Visual Privacy and EU Human Rights Law This book examines visual privacy in the use of civilian drones. Here, visual privacy is described as the freedom from a combination of unwanted activities directed towards an individual, such as observing, recording, and publishing personal visual information, without an individual’s consent. The book answers the question of whether visual observation of an individual with the help of the camera systems on board a civilian drone is lawful in light of EU law. It also dis- cusses the legality of the subsequent recordings and publications. The issues are considered in terms of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the case laws of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union, and EU General Data Protection Regulation. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers, academics, and policymakers working in the areas of technology, privacy, and human rights law. Girish Agarwal is a qualifed lawyer and an entrepreneur with a PhD in law. Routledge Research in Human Rights Law International Human Rights Law and Crimes Against Women in Turkey Legislation on So-Called Honour Killings Ayşe Güneş Rights of the Child, Mothers and Sentencing The Case of Kenya Alice Wambui Macharia Capturing Caste in Law The Legal Regulation of Caste Discrimination Annapurna Waughray The Workings of Human Rights, Law, and Justice A Journey from Nepal to Nobel Nominee Surya P Subedi, QC Civilian Drones, Visual Privacy and EU Human Rights Law Girish Agarwal International Human Rights Law and Destitution An Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Perspective Luke D. Graham The European Convention of Human Rights Regime Reform of Immigration and Minority Policies from Afar Dia Anagnostou Decisional Privacy and the Rights of the Child Georgina Dimopoulos For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Routledge-Research-in-Human-Rights-Law/book-series/HUMRIGHTSLAW Civilian Drones, Visual Privacy and EU Human Rights Law Girish Agarwal First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Girish Agarwal The right of Girish Agarwal to be identifed as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library C ataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress C ataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Agarwal, Girish, author. Title: Civilian drones, visual privacy and EU human rights law / Girish Agarwal. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. | Series: Routledge research in Human Rights Law | Based on author’s thesis (Doctoral - Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2020) issued under title: Droneopticon : privacy implications of civilian drones in the EU. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifers: LCCN 2022006283 | ISBN 9781032183725 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032183763 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003254225 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Drone aircraft—Law and legislation—European Union countries. | Photography—Law and legislation—European Union countries. | Privacy, Right of—Law and legislation—European Union countries. | Data protection—Law and legislation—European Union countries. Classifcation: LCC KJE6925.3 .A33 2023 | DDC 343.409/75—dc23/ eng/20220520 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022006283 ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 18372- 5 ( hbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 18376- 3 ( pbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 25422- 5 ( ebk) DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003254225 Typeset in Galliard by codeMantra For Dr Gautam Agarwal without whose support this book would not have been possible. Contents Introduction 1 Structure of the book 3 1 Brief history of drones 6 The evolution of drones 6 Evolution of the defnition 9 Civilian drone classifcation 10 The European Union and drones 18 Applications 24 2 Elements of privacy invasion 27 Scope of visual invasion 27 Scope of physical invasion 47 The variables 57 The impact 60 3 Visual privacy 69 Overview and defnition 69 Determinant factors of visual privacy 71 The nature of visual privacy 83 Classifcation of visual information 90 Reasonable expectation of privacy 95 4 The fundamental dimensions of visual privacy 101 Sources and their relationship 101 Visual privacy and its offshoots within the two frameworks 112 5 The solutions 125 Legislative 125 The General Data Protection Regulation 126 Technological 152 S elf-r egulation 153 viii Contents Conclusion 155 Findings 155 Theoretical contributions of the book 158 The way forward 159 Index 161 Introduction Drones have been around for some time now, although only lately have they be- come popular in the civilian sphere. One of the reasons for their rising popular- ity and increased use is affordability. They are used for recreational photography, delivering medicines, dousing fres, spraying crops, and even for the surveillance of individuals. They are also being considered for use in smart cities. However, this book is about the ‘ visual privacy’ impact of civilian drones. A civilian, ac- cording to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘i s a person not in the armed services or the police force’. Therefore, this book refers to drones being used by private individuals (n atural persons) and corporations. To what use drones are put in the civilian sphere will solely depend on the intention and discretion of the entities using them. On the one hand, drones can be used for benign purposes, such as recreation by private individuals, and on the other hand, if the intention is malicious, they can be used to harm individuals by gathering sensitive visual data about them and disseminating the data to the public. They can be used for commercial gain by corporate entities such as fying clubs or for civilian surveillance. Restrictions or limitations on the use of civilian drones, therefore, may result from factors such as law, technology, social norms, morality, and so on. These several layers will shape the level of protection of privacy in every setting and will ultimately infuence how drones are actually used in the private sphere. As past literature on the topic has identifed the invasion of privacy as the main adverse social impact,1 the aim of this book is to be more precise and elaborative about the kind of privacy in jeopardy from the use of civilian drones. It is in this re- gard that the concept of visual privacy is examined, as well as the different variables 1 See John Villasenor, ‘ Observations from above: unmanned aircraft systems and privacy’ ( 2013) 36 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 457; M. Ryan Calo, ‘ The drone as privacy catalyst’ ( 2011) 64 Stanford Law Review Online 29; Timothy T. Takahashi, ‘ Drones and privacy’ ( 2012) XIV Columbia Science and Technology Law Review 72; Margot E. Kaminski, ‘ Drone federalism: civilian drones and the things they carry’ ( 2013) 4 California Law Review Circuit 57; Robert Molko, ‘ The drones are coming! Will the Fourth Amendment stop their threat to our privacy?’ ( 2013) 78 Brooklyn Law Review 1279; Jennifer Bentley, ‘ Policing the police: balancing the right to privacy against the benefcial use of drone technology’ ( 2018) 70 Hastings Law Journal 249. DOI: 10.4324/9781003254225-1