Filming In Public
Check our National Trust, English Heritage and Natural England sections to learn about flying over their properties.
If you fly sub 250g, or UK0, UK1, C0 or C1 class drone, you will benefit from the freedoms of flying in public spaces without the regulations heavier drones have.
Public Interference
Flying your drone can attract interest from passersby. If you're flying it over or close to commercial properties or landmarks, this can also spark the interest from company employees, volunteers or security.
First and foremost: As a member of the public you can film in a public space without a permit or permission and this includes filming with your drone.
As a responsible drone operator, you should always respect other peoples privacy. Whilst flying over and filming commercial sites is allowed, try to avoid flying over or filming residental properties without consent and be considerate if your public recording overlaps onto recording private land, properties or people on there. Download the official ACPO guidelines for police on public filming.
This document from Avon and Somerset police explains clearly that there is no law preventing people from taking photographs or a video in public. This includes taking photos of other people’s children.
It goes on to say: If you are taking photographs or a video from private land, you need to have the land owner’s permission. Taking a photo or video of a person where they can expect privacy, such as inside their home or garden, is likely to cause a breach of privacy laws.
Unless the images or footage are indecent, no one has the right to:
- ask a photographer to stop
- ask for a copy of the photos or footage
- force a photographer to delete the photographs or footage
Again, use your common sense here and be considerate towards others, especially if they have children in the area where you are flying and capturing images and video.
See the full article here.Common Courtesy
When flying in public where people are with their children, I generally approach the parent/guardians and tell them where I will be flying (if I'll be close by) and what I'll be taking photos and videos of, just out of courtesy. Some have asked to see the drone and see how it works, showing an interest in the hobby!
Company / Employee Interference
Any policies a company may have in relation to drones and drone flights applies to their site and their employees only. They do not and can not be applied to members of the public when on public land. If they choose not to allow drone flights over their property, ban photography on site or prevent videos being taken of their buildings; these apply to employees and visitors of the company only, and not members of the public. As a member of the public, you're allowed to film what you can see. See this page for more information.
The Met Police have a dedicated article on public filming outlining the law around what police officers can and can't do in relation to handling equipment, deleting images and video and in dealing with the photographer.
Watching this DJ Audits video, you can see just how wrong the public get this and how they blindly trust what others say and simply repeat and share incorrect information. DJ Audits knows the law but he plays along allowing the staff to discover the truth for themselves.
Police Interference
You may be approached by the police when flying in a public space. They may have noticed your flight or they may have been called by a member of the public or an employee of a local business.
If you are approached by the police, remain respectful (even if their approach is hostile) and read the section on Talking To Police.
Emergency Response Effort and CAP 722
There are certain situations where flying in public is deemed illegal and may well result in action against you, for example, flying over or close to an emergency response. The CAA's CAP 722 document clearly defines this and clearly explains this is unlawful.
Section 4.2.2.3 In-flight responsibilities
Ensure that the UA is not flown close to or inside any areas where an emergency response effort is ongoing, unless they have permission to do so from the responsible emergency response personnel.
Note: The term ‘emergency response effort’ covers any activities by police, fire, ambulance, coastguard or other similar services where action is ongoing in order to preserve life, protect the public or respond to a crime in progress. This includes activities such as road traffic collisions, fires, rescue operations and firearms incidents, although this list is not exhaustive.
Airspace over and around an emergency response must be clear for emergency service use and flying your drone here - although in a public space - may well result in your drone being grounded and you likely facing arrest.
In this video, Reggie Photo is flying his drone in Preston to video a fire. The police arrive and he is subsequently arrested. Now, although I feel it was his approach and attitude to the situation was ultimately what got him arrested, I also feel the police handled the situation extremely badly indeed! The police jumped in citing the Air Navigation Order but if the police knew what they were doing, they would have nailed him for breaching the CAA CAP 722 rules. This YouTuber is so focused on the response to his arrest and showing the police in a bad light, his video is actually incriminating him
Another example of this can be seen by DJE Media when he flies his drone over police station fire in Forest Gate. Only here, the police aren't aware of the legislation and the powers they have to stop the flight. This flight is technically illegal. This information is also published in Section 8 of the CAA Drone Code which DJE Media would have read in order to obtain his Operator ID.
Other Interactions
There are three likely interactions you'll deal with as a drone pilot. Those with the general public, the police and employees (including security) of companies.