Droneopticonprivacy implications of civilian drones in the eu

Resumen

The motivation/ rationale for writing this thesis stems from the fact that although personal data is being processed increasingly in the form of images, by new imaging technologies, the fundamental right to privacy and data protection and the general data protection regulation does not give image data more importance. Image data and alphanumeric data more or less are treated the same. In this thesis, drones are taken as an example of an imaging technology that processes personal visual data through the onboard cameras. What I try to show in this thesis is that visual privacy is necessary because of visual data processing by drones. Elements of visual privacy will include freedom from unwanted observations, recordings, and publications of visual information. The study begins with chapter two on the brief history of drones. This chapter gives a historical account of the development of drones. In here, how the definition has evolved over the century and the classification of drones are discussed. Rules applicable to drones in the EU are discussed as well as the beneficial applications of drone technology in the civilian sphere. Chapter three discusses the role of drones in the infringement of visual privacy of individuals. In this chapter, drones and visual privacy are fused together with the aim of providing us an account of the elements of violations. The violations are categorised into visual violation and physical violation. Visual violation is broken down into three sub elements and then weighed against the physical violation. This chapter concludes with the impact of the violations on individuals. Chapter four gives us an account of what is visual privacy and describes its determinant factors. Then it goes on to classify visual information and the kinds of relationships that generate visual information. In the end, a discussion on the notion of reasonable expectation of privacy is undertaken, carefully adapting it to the problem of violation of the right to visual privacy from the use of civilian drones. In chapter five, the fundamental dimensions of visual privacy are discussed, in other words, visual privacy within the fundamental rights framework in the EU. In here, the difficulty associated with the indirect application of fundamental rights and the system of multi-level protection are discussed. Chapter six discusses the available solutions to address the problems of visual privacy infringements by drones. In this chapter, legislation, technology, and self-regulation are discussed as means to address violations. Under legislation, the GDPR is discussed in relation to visual data processing by drones. The limitations of the GDPR are also discussed alongside the solutions. Under technology, means available to protect visual privacy either after the processing of images or prior to the image processing is discussed. Finally, chapter seven concludes the study with the findings on the issues that impact the protection of visual privacy from the use of civilian drones. Additionally, theoretical implications and the way forward are discussed. The main conclusion of the thesis is, recorded visual information (which is identifiable or identified to a particular individual), and depending on the different variables mentioned in the study, needs a higher level of protection than alphanumeric information. With regards to visual information which has not been recorded, as there is no need for a new provision guaranteeing a fundamental right to visual privacy, a direct remedy should be accessible to the masses. Bibliography consulted: General Data Protection Regulation, European Convention on Human Rights, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, ECHR and CJEU case laws, books and journal articles.