Mapped: Drone Privacy Laws Around the World

Mapped: Drone Privacy Laws Around the World

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From Olympic opening ceremonies to public safety, drone applications have come a long way.

In fact, their modern applications are set to almost double the total value of the commercial drone market from $22.5 billion to $42.8 billion between 2020-2025, at a 13.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Naturally, such diverse and complex uses can go quickly awry if not monitored and regulated correctly by governments—yet in some cases, it’s because of governments that drones’ uses border on sinister.

This in-depth map from Surfshark explores the murky guidelines surrounding drone privacy laws around the world, and some case studies of how they’re used in every region.

How Are Drone Privacy Laws Classified?

According to the map researchers, drone and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) regulations typically fall into one of the following buckets:

1. Outright ban
2. Effective ban
3. Visual line of sight required
   Pilots need to be able to see the drones at all times, and must usually obtain a license or permit
4. Experimental visual line of sight
   Pilots can let the drone fly outside their field of vision e.g. during a race
5. Restrictions apply
   Drones need to be registered, and/or additional observers are required
6. Unrestricted
   When drones are flown around private property and airports, and under 500 feet (150 meters)
7. No drone-related legislation

Categories are assigned based on legislation as of October 2020.

Clearly, there is some overlap among these categories. They are highly dependent on judgment calls made by specific legal authorities, and change based on what a drone is being used for.

Explore the drone privacy laws in your specific country here:

Country/Territory	Continent	Drone Legal Status (Oct. 2020)
Afghanistan	Asia	Unrestricted
Albania	Europe	No drone-related legislation
Algeria	Africa	Outright ban
Andorra	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Angola	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Antigua and Barbuda	North America	Experimental visual line of sight
Argentina	South America	Unrestricted
Armenia	Europe	No drone-related legislation
Aruba	North America	Visual line of sight required
Australia	Oceania	Experimental visual line of sight
Austria	Europe	Unrestricted
Azerbaijan	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Bahamas, The	North America	Unrestricted
Bahrain	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Bangladesh	Asia	Unrestricted
Barbados	North America	Outright ban
Belarus	Europe	No drone-related legislation
Belgium	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Belize	North America	Effective ban
Benin	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Bermuda	North America	Visual line of sight required
Bhutan	Asia	Effective ban
Bolivia	South America	No drone-related legislation
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	No drone-related legislation
Botswana	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Brazil	South America	Visual line of sight required
Brunei Darussalam	Asia	Outright ban
Bulgaria	Europe	Effective ban
Burkina Faso	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Burundi	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Cabo Verde	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Cambodia	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Cameroon	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Canada	North America	Experimental visual line of sight
Cayman Islands	North America	Experimental visual line of sight
Central African Republic	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Chad	Africa	Unrestricted
Chile	South America	Visual line of sight required
China	Asia	Experimental visual line of sight
Colombia	South America	Visual line of sight required
Comoros	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Congo, Dem. Rep.	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Congo, Rep.	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Costa Rica	North America	Visual line of sight required
Cote d'Ivoire	Africa	Outright ban
Croatia	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Cuba	North America	Outright ban
Curacao	North America	Visual line of sight required
Cyprus	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Czech Republic	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Denmark	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Djibouti	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Dominica	North America	No drone-related legislation
Dominican Republic	North America	Visual line of sight required
Ecuador	South America	Visual line of sight required
Egypt, Arab Rep.	Africa	Effective ban
El Salvador	North America	No drone-related legislation
Equatorial Guinea	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Eritrea	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Estonia	Europe	Unrestricted
Ethiopia	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Faroe Islands	Europe	Unrestricted
Fiji	Oceania	Visual line of sight required
Finland	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
France	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Gabon	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Gambia, The	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Georgia	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Germany	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Ghana	Africa	Experimental visual line of sight
Gibraltar	Europe	Effective ban
Greece	Europe	Unrestricted
Greenland	North America	Visual line of sight required
Grenada	North America	No drone-related legislation
Guam	Oceania	Unrestricted
Guatemala	North America	No drone-related legislation
Guinea	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Guinea-Bissau	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Guyana	South America	Experimental visual line of sight
Haiti	North America	No drone-related legislation
Honduras	North America	No drone-related legislation
Hong Kong SAR, China	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Hungary	Europe	Unrestricted
Iceland	Europe	Visual line of sight required
India	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Indonesia	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Iran, Islamic Rep.	Asia	Outright ban
Iraq	Asia	Outright ban
Ireland	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Israel	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Italy	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Jamaica	North America	Visual line of sight required
Japan	Asia	Experimental visual line of sight
Jordan	Asia	Unrestricted
Kazakhstan	Europe	No drone-related legislation
Kenya	Africa	Effective ban
Kiribati	Oceania	No drone-related legislation
Korea, Dem. People’s Rep.	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Korea, Rep.	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Kosovo	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Kuwait	Asia	Outright ban
Kyrgyz Republic	Asia	Outright ban
Lao PDR	Asia	Unrestricted
Latvia	Europe	Unrestricted
Lebanon	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Lesotho	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Liberia	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Libya	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Liechtenstein	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Lithuania	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Luxembourg	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Macao SAR, China	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Madagascar	Africa	Outright ban
Malawi	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Malaysia	Asia	Effective ban
Maldives	Asia	Effective ban
Mali	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Malta	Europe	Unrestricted
Marshall Islands	Oceania	No drone-related legislation
Mauritania	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Mauritius	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Mexico	North America	Visual line of sight required
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	Oceania	No drone-related legislation
Moldova	Europe	No drone-related legislation
Monaco	Europe	Unrestricted
Mongolia	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Montenegro	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Morocco	Africa	Outright ban
Mozambique	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Myanmar	Asia	Effective ban
Namibia	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Nauru	Oceania	No drone-related legislation
Nepal	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Netherlands	Europe	Visual line of sight required
New Caledonia	Oceania	No drone-related legislation
New Zealand	Oceania	Experimental visual line of sight
Nicaragua	North America	Outright ban
Niger	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Nigeria	Africa	Effective ban
North Macedonia	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Norway	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Oman	Asia	Effective ban
Pakistan	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Palau	Oceania	No drone-related legislation
Panama	North America	Unrestricted
Papua New Guinea	Oceania	Visual line of sight required
Paraguay	South America	No drone-related legislation
Peru	South America	Visual line of sight required
Philippines	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Poland	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Portugal	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Puerto Rico	North America	Experimental visual line of sight
Qatar	Asia	Unrestricted
Romania	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Russian Federation	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Rwanda	Africa	Experimental visual line of sight
Samoa	Oceania	No drone-related legislation
San Marino	Europe	No drone-related legislation
Sao Tome and Principe	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Saudi Arabia	Asia	Experimental visual line of sight
Senegal	Africa	Outright ban
Serbia	Europe	Unrestricted
Seychelles	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Sierra Leone	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Singapore	Asia	Experimental visual line of sight
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	North America	Experimental visual line of sight
Slovak Republic	Europe	Visual line of sight required
Slovenia	Europe	Outright ban
Solomon Islands	Oceania	Visual line of sight required
Somalia	Africa	No drone-related legislation
South Africa	Africa	Experimental visual line of sight
South Sudan	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Spain	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
Sri Lanka	Asia	Experimental visual line of sight
St. Kitts and Nevis	North America	No drone-related legislation
St. Lucia	North America	Unrestricted
St. Martin (French part)	North America	Experimental visual line of sight
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	North America	No drone-related legislation
Sudan	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Suriname	South America	No drone-related legislation
Swaziland	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Sweden	Europe	Unrestricted
Switzerland	Europe	Unrestricted
Syrian Arab Republic	Asia	Outright ban
Taiwan	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Tajikistan	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Tanzania	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Thailand	Asia	Visual line of sight required
Timor-Leste	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Togo	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Tonga	Oceania	No drone-related legislation
Trinidad and Tobago	North America	Experimental visual line of sight
Tunisia	Africa	No drone-related legislation
Turkey	Europe	Unrestricted
Turkmenistan	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Turks and Caicos Islands	North America	Unrestricted
Tuvalu	Oceania	No drone-related legislation
Uganda	Africa	Experimental visual line of sight
Ukraine	Europe	Visual line of sight required
United Arab Emirates	Asia	Visual line of sight required
United Kingdom	Europe	Experimental visual line of sight
United States	North America	Experimental visual line of sight
Uruguay	South America	Visual line of sight required
Uzbekistan	Asia	Outright ban
Vanuatu	Oceania	Visual line of sight required
Venezuela, RB	South America	Unrestricted
Vietnam	Asia	Unrestricted
Yemen, Rep.	Asia	No drone-related legislation
Zambia	Africa	Visual line of sight required
Zimbabwe	Africa	Experimental visual line of sight

So How Are Drones Used Worldwide?

The myriad of drone uses are literally and metaphorically up in the air—while they originated in military needs, drone uses now range from hobbies such as aerial photography to supporting disaster relief.

The following regional maps show privacy laws in closer detail, while also highlighting interesting case studies on how drones are used.

North America

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According to the latest drone numbers, 70.5% of registered U.S. drones are recreational, but these proportions may soon decline in favor of commercial uses. As of December 2020, civilian drones are allowed to fly over populated areas, a step towards fulfilling their potential in package delivery.

Meanwhile, countries like Mexico are beginning to rely on drones to combat crime, with good results. In the city of Ensenada, a single drone’s surveillance patrol resulted in a 10% drop in overall crime rates in 2018. Drones are increasingly being used to monitor illicit activity such as drug trafficking routes.

South America

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Interestingly, the environmental applications of drones come into play in the Amazon rainforest. An indigenous tribe in Brazil is using drones to track levels of deforestation and forest fires—and presenting that data evidence to authorities to urge them to act.

Across the continent, drones are also in place to deliver everything from hospital supplies to life jackets in Chile and El Salvador.

Europe

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The first unmanned, radio-controlled aircraft test flight occurred in the United Kingdom in 1917. The Kettering Aerial Target (or “The Bug”) carried 180 pounds of explosives and became the basis for modern missiles.

While Europe has some of the most liberal drone privacy laws today, that doesn’t mean they’re lenient. Even among countries that allow experimental visual lines of sight (such as Finland and Portugal), special permissions are required.

Middle East and Central Asia

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The military applications of drones persist in this region. Iran was one of the first to use armed drones and continues to do so, while simultaneously banning their public use.

Neighboring Turkey also relies on kamikaze drones, augmented by AI and facial recognition, to strengthen border security.

Rest of Asia and Oceania

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China-based DJI is the world’s largest drone manufacturer, dominating 70% of the global market. Across Asia, drones have been in use for mass surveillance, particularly in China. In recent times, drones also track compliance with strict COVID-19 guidelines in Malaysia and Singapore.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Nokia is testing out a drone network to provide a more rapid response to future natural disasters. The relief capabilities include disseminating more real-time updates and monitoring evacuation progress.

Africa

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While many parts of Africa haven’t developed any drone-related laws yet, promising innovation is rearing its head. Medical drones are already saving lives in Rwanda, delivering supplies in as little as 15 minutes.

In the same vein, the pioneer African Drone and Data Academy (ADDA) opened in Malawi. The academy promotes drone usage for humanitarian and disaster preparedness, and aims to equip individuals with the relevant skills.

Towards Greater Heights?

As the uses of drones evolve over time, so will their legal status and the privacy concerns surrounding them. However, the adoption of any technology is always accompanied by a certain level of skepticism.

With drones, it remains to be seen whether they’ll mostly occupy the role of a friend or a foe for years to come—and that power lies only in the hands of those who remotely control them.