Drone use needs clear regulations

Drone technology is exciting. But more needs to be done to protect the public

Drone usages needs careful and swift regulation. Christopher Pike / The National

It hasn’t happened yet, but it is only a matter of time. As the price of drone technology has come down, so the number of manufacturers offering drones for the consumer market has increased, especially those equipped with cameras. Civilian drones are used by sports enthusiasts for capturing the perfect free kick or the perfect wave. They are used by nature lovers to observe animals and birds. And they are used by individuals who simply enjoy flying one. But one day, a recreational drone will kill someone.

Drone technology has moved so fast that laws can barely keep up. Drones have been flown over cities, over nuclear facilities and even over airports – the incident on Saturday morning when a drone entered the exclusion zone around Dubai International Airport was not the first incident of its kind in the UAE. Across the world, drones are regularly flown too close to airports – some have even crashed into aircraft, thankfully without serious damage to the aircraft. (The same can’t be said for the drone.) One day, a drone is going to fall out of the sky and injure someone seriously.

All of which means that drones need careful regulation. The sale of recreational drones has been banned in Abu Dhabi since last spring. Furthermore, drones with cameras are banned completely across the UAE, and all drone owners need to register the drone with the civil aviation authority. Yet drones are still openly on sale in parts of the country and most consumers are probably unaware that they need to register.

Drones are not all bad. In fact, they are an exciting new technology that could potentially be very useful. In Dubai, the Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre have a partnership for UAE students to develop drone technology.

But they do pose new policy questions. Indeed, the easiest to answer is whether drones can be used near airports and military facilities. Much harder to answer are questions of privacy, for example, if drones with cameras can see into high-rise buildings, should they be allowed to fly in cities?

Drone users also need that clarity about what they can do and where. After all, in some parts of the world, anti-drone technology is being tested, including the use of falcons to attack drones. The last thing drone users want is to have their equipment destroyed in a blaze of feathers and talons.