Ethics and Civil Drones: European Policies and Proposals for the Industry

This open access book disseminates some of the results of the European H2020 AiRT Project (Technology transfer of RPAs for the creative industry). In particular, it presents findings related to mitigating safety and security concerns when civil drones are piloted by the service sector (mainly, the creative industry).

European policies regarding drones generally focus on outdoor drones, but they are also used indoors. Moreover, a number of European countries have fragmented regulations on drone use, and as a result, European institutions are attempting address these issues.

This work is based on a detailed study of the European policies, a comparative analysis of the regulation in various European countries, an analysis of the drone sector in Europe, and primary data from members of the creative industry.

The authors created focus groups in Spain, the UK and Belgium in order to discuss with the creative industry the concerns on safety and security when using civil drones for their work. Based on these results, the book offers advice to the European industry, as well as new insights for academics and policymakers.