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Guidance: Use of drones

Editorial Guidelines issues

This guidance note discusses the considerations around the use of drones for filming.

This guidance note should be considered in conjunction with:-

The note also relates to the following Editorial Guidelines

Key Points

  • Where a drone is used by a ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ remote pilot, it should normally be flown in accordance with the country’s aviation regulations, unless there is a public interest for not doing so. In a war zone, for example, it may not be possible to seek permission to fly.
  • In the absence of country-specific drone regulations, operators should aim to follow the UK Civil Aviation Authority standards.
  • In the UK, the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ remote pilot should abide by the CAA regulations and follow the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ drone operations manual.
  • Remote pilots intending to fly a drone for filming in the UK are required by the CAA to have a Flyer Identification, Operator Identification and valid insurance. In some circumstances where the risk to other persons or other air traffic is greater (called β€œSpecific category” operations), Operational Authorisation by the CAA will also be required.
  • The Editorial Guidelines state, β€œAny proposal to gather material using a drone must be referred to a senior editorial figure or, for independent production companies, to the commissioning editor.”
  • Drones can be β€˜highly privacy intrusive’ and a privacy impact assessment may be necessary to comply with the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance and data protection legislation.
  • Drones should not normally be used to identify individuals without their consent or capture close-up images of private areas such as houses, gardens or offices without the consent of the owner, unless these areas can be seen from a public vantage point or there is a public interest in showing them.
  • When assessing whether to use user generated content filmed from a drone, we should consider whether the drone flight was conducted legally. For a UK drone flight this should normally include asking the pilot for details of their Flyer Identification, and Operator Identification. In some circumstances, details of Operational Authorisation by the CAA, (see above) and valid insurance should also be sought.
  • Where the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ is offered user generated content and it appears the drone flight put the safety of people or property at risk or has otherwise been carried out illegally, including a breach of aviation regulations, any use of the footage gathered must be justified in the public interest.
  • If in any doubt about the safety or legality of the flight, refer the UGC footage to a ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ trained remote pilot.
  • The ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ should not normally ask a contributor, or third party, who does not have Flyer Identification, Operator Identification, valid insurance and, where required, Operational Authorisation, to conduct a flight or gather footage from one on our behalf.
  • The remote pilot is legally responsible for the safety of each flight and must take all possible measures to mitigate the risks of a collision.

Guidance in Full 

Mandatory Referrals                                               

(Mandatory Referrals are part of the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ's editorial management system.  They are an essential part of the process to ensure compliance and must be observed.) 

  • The Editorial Guidelines state, β€œAny proposal to gather material using a drone must be referred to a senior editorial figure or, for independents, the commissioning editor.” Any proposal to use a drone should be conducted in accordance with the Editorial Guidelines. (See Editorial Guidelines Section 7 Privacy 7.3.25)
  • Any proposal to purchase a drone or operate a hired one yourself must be referred to ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Safety.
  • Any proposal to broadcast footage, including UGC footage, where the drone operation has put the safety of people or property at risk or has been carried out illegally, including in breach of aviation regulations, must be referred to a senior editorial figure, or for independent production companies, to the commissioning editor who may consult Programme Legal Advice and, if necessary, Director Editorial Policy and Standards. 
  • Any proposal to pay for such footage (see bullet point above) must be referred to a senior editorial figure or for independent production companies, to the commissioning editor before negotiations on payments are conducted. In the Nations referrals must be made to Heads of News and Current Affairs. Referral must also be made to Editorial Policy. Programme Legal Advice may also be consulted.

Aviation Regulation

Where a drone is used by a ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ remote pilot, it should normally be flown in accordance with the country’s aviation regulations, unless there is a public interest for not doing so. In a war zone, for example, it may not be possible to seek permission to fly.

Failure to adhere to a country’s aviation regulations could lead to criminal prosecution.

In the absence of country-specific drone regulations, remote pilots should aim to follow the UK Civil Aviation Authority, (CAA) standards.

In the UK, the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ remote pilot should abide by the CAA regulations and follow the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ drone operations manual.

Remote pilots, intending to fly a drone in the UK for filming, are required by the CAA to have Flyer Identification, Operator Identification and valid insurance. In some circumstances, where the risk to other persons or other air traffic is greater (called β€œSpecific category” operations), Operational Authorisation by the CAA will also be required.

This also applies to third party operators hired by the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ to fly a drone on our behalf, including freelance camera operators. (A list of preferred ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ suppliers can be found .)

Other bodies, such as the emergency services, highways agencies or local authorities may also impose further restrictions.

In addition, drone operators need to be aware of no-fly zones or temporary bans.

The Editorial Guidelines state, β€œAny proposal to gather material using a drone must be referred to a senior editorial figure or, for independents, the commissioning editor.” Any proposal to use a drone should be conducted in accordance with the Editorial Guidelines.

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 7 Privacy 7.3.25)  

Any proposal to broadcast footage, including UGC footage, where the drone operation has put the safety of people or property at risk or has been carried out illegally, including in breach of aviation regulations, must be referred to a senior editorial figure, or for independent production companies, to the commissioning editor who may consult Programme Legal Advice and, if necessary, Director Editorial Policy and Standards.

Legal advice on filming with drones is available from Programme Legal Advice.

Privacy

The versatility of drones and their ability to operate without the constraint of walls or fences means they can easily access private spaces. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has warned broadcasters that their use of drones can raise privacy concerns as individuals are unlikely to realise they are being recorded or able to identify who is in control. The ICO suggests that while individuals may not be identifiable from a wide aerial shot, they might still be identifiable from the context in which they are filmed [1].

Whether privacy will be infringed depends on where the drone will be flown and the images it captures.

Flying a drone in a public space like a park, is unlikely to lead to a breach of privacy where individuals in wide general views are not identified or featured and are not doing anything inherently private.

However, filming someone’s home or flying over their back garden, particularly if it can’t be seen from a public vantage point, and filming it, may be akin to filming through their window.

Consideration needs to be given to whether a property owner or landowner has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their commercial land or buildings. People’s expectations of privacy in, for example, schools, prisons, care homes, hospitals are also higher.

Some behaviour, such as receiving medical treatment, also attracts a higher expectation of privacy.

Any breach of privacy needs to be justified in the public interest.

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 7 Privacy: Introduction – Legitimate Expectations of Privacy & Section 1 The ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ’s Editorial Standards: The Public Interest)

Where privacy is inadvertently infringed, steps should be taken to disguise identities.

Before planning a drone operation, users should consider the following:

  • Is it necessary and proportionate for the recording to be continuous?
  • Can the camera on the drone be switched on and off or re-directed so that privacy is not unnecessarily infringed if the aircraft captures images of people, property or land that is of no interest to the production?
  • Are there ways of restricting the view or changing the angle of the lens to avoid capturing images where privacy may be unjustifiably breached, if for example the drone has to fly over someone’s back-garden?
  • Should a different take-off position or route be considered?
  • Does the production need to provide information to make people aware drones are in use by the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ or the purpose of filming? This might include the following:

         - Staff wearing highly visible clothing identifying themselves as ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ drone operators.

         - Signage in the area where the drone is being flown. 

         - Information on posters or tickets at a live event or outside broadcast or similar. 

         - Using social media to explain that filming is taking place from a drone in a defined area.

There is no need to warn people that they might be filmed if individuals are not going to be identifiable from the footage because the shot is too wide.

  • Whether an area needs to be cordoned off to prevent anyone entering.

Data Protection

There could be data protection issues arising from using drones for filming. The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued guidance on this in its . Where someone’s privacy might be infringed without a strong public interest justification, or the use of drones is unexpected you may need to consider conducting a privacy impact assessment and you should refer to Information Rights on for more advice.

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 18 The Law: Data Protection18.4.8)

Permission to Fly

A remote pilot where practicable should have the permission of the person in charge of the site from which they wish to take-off and land the drone.

Flying over private property, irrespective of whether the drone is filming or not, may also raise legal issues including trespass and nuisance. Property owners have rights in respect of their airspace above their property and you may need to seek permission from the owner.

Further advice is available from Editorial Policy and Programme Legal Advice.

Editorial Consent

The need for consent will depend on what is being filmed.

Where we are filming in public or semi-public places, such as railway stations, we do not normally obtain consent from individuals who are incidentally caught on camera as part of a general view, unless they are engaged in an activity where they have a legitimate expectation of privacy.

We normally obtain consent before filming on private property.

Programmes which rely on access to an organisation’s land or property should include consent to overfly that land or buildings in any agreement.

Drones should not normally be used to capture close-up images of individuals without consent, or private areas such as houses, gardens or offices without the consent of the owner, unless they can be seen from a public vantage point, or there is a public interest in showing them. If consent is not obtained, any proposal to use a drone for such footage should be regarded as a proposal for secret filming (see Investigative Use and Secret Recording below).

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 7 Privacy: 7.3.1-7.3.6 & Section 6 Fairness to Contributors and Consent)

Investigative Use and Secret Recording

Drones may be used for investigations where there is an evidential purpose in the footage to be obtained and providing there is a strong public interest justification for any intrusion of privacy. For example, drones could be used to document illegal activities such as fly tipping, smuggling or illegal agricultural conditions where evidence could not be acquired without the use of an aerial vehicle. According to the Editorial Guidelines, any proposal to film with a drone that risks infringing privacy should be regarded as a proposal for secret filming which must be approved in advance, through the usual process. The forms for secret recording for News and Current Affairs and Factual Programmes and Comedy and Entertainment Output can be found here.

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 7 Privacy: Secret Recording)

(See Guidance: Secret Recording)

Any proposal to use a drone for surveillance, or to follow the subject of an investigation or hover outside a window where a meeting is taking place, should only be approved if there is any evidential purpose which is in the public interest to reveal.

UGC and Third Party Content

Increasingly we are being offered footage filmed by hobbyists using drones as well as agencies flying similar aircraft on a commercial basis.

Usage

We should take reasonable steps where necessary to verify such footage.

We should also consider its provenance including whether the drone operation:

  • was conducted legally,
  • put the safety of any person or property at risk,
  • involved any intrusion into privacy or secret recording,
  • involved any trespass or
  • involved any infringement of other property rights like nuisance.

For a UK drone flight you should normally ask the pilot for details of their Flyer Identification and Operator Identification. In some circumstances details of Operational Authorisation by the CAA (see above) and valid insurance should also be sought.

If user generated or third party content has been gathered by recklessly or wilfully endangering people or property, or by breaking the law, the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ may decide not to broadcast it. Examples of this may include where a hobbyist has flown a drone in a no-fly zone, over large public gatherings or has prevented fire fighters from flying helicopters to deal with forest fires.

Where it appears to us that a drone operation has put the safety of people or property at risk or has otherwise been carried out illegally, including in breach of aviation regulations, any use of the footage gathered must be justified in the public interest. Any proposal to broadcast such footage must be referred to a senior editorial figure, or for independent production companies, to the commissioning editor who may consult Programme Legal Advice and, if necessary, Director Editorial Policy and Standards.

Use of user-generated drone footage which intrudes into an individual’s private life without consent must be justified in the public interest.

(See Guidance User Generated Contributions)

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 1 The ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ’s Editorial Standards: The Public Interest)

The Editorial Guidelines require that Editorial Policy is consulted over any proposal to use secret recordings made by third parties prior to approval by a senior editorial figure or for independent production companies, by the commissioning editor. This may include user-generated drone footage which amounts to secret recording.

Any proposal to use secret recordings made by third parties, including user-generated drone footage, must be conducted in accordance with the Editorial Guidelines.

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 7 Privacy 7.3.21 Secret Recordings from Third Parties)

If we propose to use user-generated drone footage and it appears that the person in charge of the drone is at risk of investigation or prosecution in relation to their footage, they should be made aware of this risk and be prepared to accept it.

(See Editorial Guidelines Section 6 Fairness to Contributors and Consent 6.3.18-6.3.21Safety and Welfare of Contributors)

We should ensure that user generated drone footage is clearly identified as such or attributed to an appropriate third party.

The ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ should not normally ask a contributor, or third party, who does not have a Flyer Identification, Operator Identification (or Operator Authorisation if required) and valid insurance, to conduct a flight or gather footage from one on our behalf.

Payment

We only pay in exceptional circumstances for material supplied by members of the public. Where material is particularly editorially important or unique and depicts something of great significance, we may consider making an appropriate payment. Any proposal to pay for footage where the drone operation has put the safety of people or property at risk or has otherwise been carried out illegally, including a breach of aviation regulations, must be referred to a senior editorial figure, or for independents to the commissioning editor before negotiations on payments are conducted. In the Nations referrals must be made to Heads of News and Current Affairs. Referral must also be made to Editorial Policy. Programme Legal Advice may also be consulted.

(See Guidance, User Generated Contributions: Payment for material/copyright)

Safety

The remote pilot is legally responsible for the safety of each flight. You should not fly your aircraft in a way that could endanger people or property. The potential hazards increase with the height, altitude and speed of the aircraft. But even very small drones could be dangerous when flown in close proximity to people or property or other aircraft. You must take all possible measures to mitigate the risks of a collision

It is a requirement of ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Safety that you consult a safety adviser for any proposal to purchase a drone or operate a hired aircraft yourself.

Further information about ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Safety Guidelines for drones can be found here.  

 

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Last updated March 2022

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