Drone Privacy Laws Around the World: Surfshark Maps it Out

Updated December 1, 2020 to reflect map changes.

Surfshark, a digital security firm, introduces Mapped: The state of drone privacy laws in (nearly) every country.

Drone privacy is serious business – and what gets you a great image in one country could get you a jail term in another.  Finding these laws, however, is hit or miss – so this new research from Surfshark is a great place to start for world travelers.

DRONELIFE presents Surfshark’s research as a place to start.  This article is not intended as legal advice.  Pilots should refer to the aviation authority in a particular country before flying.

 

“To shine a light on how drones are being regulated around the world, Surfshark compiled data on drone legislation around the world – and then created a series of maps,” says the firm.  “To create these maps, Surfshark collated drone legislation for 210 countries from sources including  UAV Coach, RAND Corporation, UAV Systems International, and the Library of Congress, among others.”

In addition to the world map above, the study offers maps of every continent around the world, pointing out which countries it’s safe to fly in – and which countries don’t allow unrestricted drone flight.  We’ve republished a few of these below:

“Drone laws around the world range from outright bans of the technology to relatively unrestricted flight, but most legislation focuses on how the drone is being operated and does not address nuances related to privacy.

Surfshark aims to support the effort to establish an international regulatory framework for drone legislation. With this study, the team wants to bring transparency and clarity to an issue that is important to anyone who is concerned about their privacy (offline or online) in 2020 and beyond.”

Check out the data table below to see how your next destination will great your drone: