Yeah yeah. But look at the actual regulations.
The Air Navigation Order 2005 had regulations - in
paragraph 98 - governing the flying of "small aircraft". These basically said:
- don't drop anything from the aircraft;
- (for aircraft weighing 7kg or more) don't do anything that might be unsafe;
- (for aircraft weighing 7kg or more) don't fly in restricted airspace or above 400 feet;
- (for aircraft weighing 7kg or more) don't undertake commercial usage without permission.
Skip forward to the Air Navigation Order 2009. This also has regulations - in
paragraph 166 - regarding "small unmanned aircraft", which say:
- don't drop anything from the aircraft;
- don't do anything that might be unsafe;
- maintain direct unaided visual contact with the aircraft;
- (for aircraft weighing 7kg or more) don't fly in restricted airspace or above 400 feet;
- don't undertake commercial usage without permission.
So that's all pretty much the same. There's a new requirement to maintain visual contact, and some of the rules which previously only applied to aircraft over 7kg now also apply to aircraft under 7kg. But this is all obviously 100% safety related.
However ANO 2009 also has a totally new
paragraph 167, which had no counterpart in ANO 2005. It is specifically aimed at "small unmanned
surveillance aircraft", and it says:
- don't fly over or within 150 metres of any congested area;
- don't fly over or within 150 metres of a crowd;
- don't fly within 50 metres of any vehicle or structure;
- don't fly within 50 metres of any person (30 metres during take off and landing).
So it's totally OK to fly a small aircraft 20 metres away from a building or a person (subject to the requirement in paragraph 166 to do so safely), BUT put a camera on that exact same aircraft and it's not OK. Personally I don't see how that can possibly be a safety regulation. It must surely be about privacy, and I don't see how it can be interpreted in any other way.