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Local councils in the UK are purchasing fleets of drones to monitor local residents from the air.
More than 60 local councils across the UK now have staff who are certified to operated unmanned aerial vehicles.
A dozen more councils have approached the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for “guidance” on drone regulations.
The true number of city, borough and district councils that have trained drone pilots may be significantly larger than official data suggest, because the CAA’s data only records pilots who disclose that their employer sponsored their training.
One west London borough, Hammersmith and Fulham, plans to use drones to combat fly-tipping and other forms of antisocial behavior, after a report found that local police do not have enough officers to tackle these offences.
At present, the largest council fleet of drones is held by Sunderland council, in the northeast of England.
Sunderland council has 13 drones, eight qualified staff and two more in training.
The news has caused alarm among civil-liberty groups in the UK.
Jake Hurfurt of Big Brother Watch said: “There may be a role for drones in helping councils monitor flooding or conduct land surveys, but local authorities must not use the technology as spies in the sky.
“Britain is already one of the most surveilled countries on Earth. With CCTV cameras on street corners, we do not need flying cameras too. Councils must make sure that they do not use this technology for intrusive monitoring of their citizens.”
Last year, British police arrested around 10,000 people for “offensive” statements online.
By contrast, Russia arrested less than a third of that number—3,253 people.
