Drone Privacy Guidelines for Public Consultation

When flying drones, it is important to respect privacy and we want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to understand safe and considerate drone use that is in line with community expectations, whether flying recreationally or for business.

The Privacy Guidelines for drone use bring together information about relevant legislation to provide drone users with a set of easy to follow measures to enable them to operate drones in line with the community’s reasonable expectations of privacy. In some cases, existing privacy laws refer to drone use, but others are more general. The Guidelines aim to assist drone operators to understand existing and best practice privacy obligations when using drones. The intention is not to impose any additional obligations.

The draft Guidelines include 6 Drone Privacy Principles (DPPs), underpinned by existing Commonwealth, state and territory provisions relating to privacy and surveillance devices. The DPPs include guidance on how they apply to commercial and recreational drone operators.

The draft Guidelines also aim to be a resource to educate and inform the community on what is and isn’t privacy considerate drone use and the steps they can take to find out more, or report their concerns.

The draft Guidelines have been developed through targeted engagement and consultation with state and territory governments and industry. The Guidelines and DPPs are not meant to be exhaustive, but a way to inform drone users and the community of best practice privacy considerate drone use, within existing legal settings.

For more information, visit the Drone Privacy Policy page at drones.gov.au.

Relevant documentation

• Public consultation draft – Don’t pry when you fly: Privacy considerations for drone use

Submissions to be sent to: drones@infrastructure.gov.au or through the ‘Have your say’ feature.