Study on privacy, data protection and ethical risks in civil remotely piloted aircraft : final report

The use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) is rapidly expanding for a range of civil and commercial purposes. However, it is already apparent that existing RPAS capabilities and applications raise a number of privacy, data protection and ethical issues, some of which are recognised in the European RPAS Steering Group's Roadmap. The purpose of this project is to support the development of harmonised and robust policies to enable the civil use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) whilst addressing existing and potential privacy, data protection and ethical concerns. The project has resulted in in a series of policy recommendations, in consultation with a range of relevant RPAS stakeholders (e.g., Data Protection Authorities (DPAs), Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs), RPAS operators and civil society organisations, etc.), to support European innovation whist protecting privacy, personal data and ethical safeguards.