Across the UK, local government have started using Drones
following their receipt of a commercial Drone licence from the Civil Aviation
Authority.
According to research, North Yorkshire is the latest to
use Drone technology for areas such as checking whether people have kept the
size of their new extension within the agreed limits.
But this has not come without concern from civil liberties
campaigners. Their issue is that it could give a green light for state
surveillance.
According to reports, one resident used an online forum
to write: ‘'wow, the councils are going to be flying around filming you all as
you are going about your day, peering in your windows and back yards '
So now, the campaigning group Big Brother Watch has
instigated the need for guidelines to make sure councils do not have the
authority to zoom in on private property without a justified reason.
So what are councils using Drones for?
There appears to be a range of activities that local
government are using Drone technology, including fly tipping.
Another justification by councils to achieve a ‘work
smarter’ attitude is that they can now view poor roofing work by a rogue trader.
It costs the UK £10 million a year according to the Federation of Master
Builders. Drones can also fly over land
looking for livestock carcasses or even inspect sites to make sure planning
controls aren’t breached.
Being able to use Drones comes with a number of benefits.
Being able to fly over hard to reach installations or large areas of land, is
by far a cheaper option than arranging a small aircraft to carry out the same
task.
But in this sector alone, tough guidelines need to
accompany its operation in a bid to trust privacy is maintained as a priority.
Ends
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