A DJI Phantom 2 Vision drone equipped with a camera flew past my balconcy last night. I was eating my dinner, when I heard that characteristic insect-caught-in-a-jar sound, which prompted me to write this post. Just last week a friend of mine said he did not like drones because everyone would start buying them and would not respect other people’s privacy.
Well I got a taste of that last night. I must admit, it wasn’t nice. As much as I like drones and think they could be used for a wide range of useful and potentially life-saving civilian applications, including journalism, if users don’t fly them responsibly then everybody else who wants to use them is going to be at a disadvantage. Compared to the United States where the Federal Aviation Authority has grounded most civilian and journo drones, the UK is relatively relaxed about civilians flying drones for recreational purposes. There is no way of policing it, however, unless people start reporting trespass or privacy infringements by a drone, which is only a matter of time.
So to try and encourage more responsible flying; and to remind said novice of the rules; I put together this infographic which outlines the basic guidelines for civilian fliers of drones in the UK.
My Eyes In The Sky 