Defence firms, police forces and fire services are among more than 130 organisations that have permission to fly small drones in UK airspace, the Guardian can reveal.
The Civil Aviation Authority list of companies and groups that have sought approval for the use of the unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, has not been published before – and it reflects the way the technology is now being used. The BBC, the National Grid and several universities are now certified to use them – as is Video Golf Marketing, which provides fly-over videos of golf courses.
Including multiple or expired licences, the CAA has granted approval to fly small UAVs more than 160 times.
"People are going to see more and more of these small vehicles operating around the country," said John Moreland, general secretary of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association (UAVS), a trade body with more than 100 members. "There are any number of uses for them, and the technology is getting easier to use and cheaper all the time. These vehicles can operate anywhere in the UK, within reason."
However, privacy campaigners have grave concerns about the proliferation of the technology and want an urgent review of regulations. "The increasing use of drones by private companies and government bodies poses a unique set of problems," said Eric King, head of research at campaign group Privacy International.
"The CAA considers health and safety issues when deciding whether or not to grant licences to operate drone technology, but this is a very low bar. We need new regulation to ensure privacy and other civil liberties are also taken into account during the decision-making process."
In the last two years the CAA has required anyone who wants to fly a small UAV in British airspace to apply for permission. The aircraft must weigh less than 20kg and operators have to abide by certain rules. These include not flying them higher than 122 metres (400ft), or further away from the operator than 500 metres – this is deemed the pilot's "line of sight".
The CAA list shows that three police forces, Merseyside, Staffordshire and Essex, have permission to use UAVs, as do three fire services, Dorset, West Midlands and Hampshire.
Some of Europe's biggest defence companies can also fly them, including BAE Systems, Qinetiq and missile manufacturer MBDA. A company that supplies UAVs and other equipment to the Ministry of Defence, Marlborough Communications, is also registered, along with crime-scene and counter-terrorism specialist GWR & Associates.
Shane Knight, a spokesman for Marlborough, said: "If you can put these systems up in the sky, and they are safe, then they have many uses. If you are a police force, a fire or ambulance service, and, for instance, you are responding to a large fire, then you have a choice of sending out your people to do reconnaissance of an area, or you could use one of these small UAVs. Why put people in danger when you can use one of these systems? These UAVs are getting much better, and much smaller."
The National Grid uses them to inspect power lines, while the Scottish Environment Protection Agency wants one to patrol and photograph remote areas, said Susan Stevens, a scientist in the agency's marine ecology department. "The UAV equipment is currently being trialled," she said.
"As an operational service it will have many uses, such as capturing aerial imagery of estuaries, wetlands and riverbanks, and to provide a snapshot of the environment before and after development work," she said.
Moreland said the unmanned systems suffered from the perception that they were all "killer robots" flying in the sky, but he thought this would diminish as the public got used to seeing them.
"We are going to see all sorts of systems coming out over the years," he said. "The operating bubble is going to expand like mad. Some of these systems will be able to look after themselves, and others will rely on the quality of the operators.
"You don't have to be a qualified pilot … The person could come from a modelling background, or he may be a video game player. There are plenty of people you could imagine being able to control these systems in a delicate way."
Gordon Slack, who owns Video Golf Marketing, said he had taught himself to use his UAV. "Once you know how to operate it, it is not too complicated. We've done six videos for golf courses, with a few more in the pipeline."
However, Chris Cole, the founder of the Drone Wars UK website, also raised concerns about privacy and civil liberties. "While companies and regulators are putting in place the technologies, procedures and regulations that will see drones routinely fly over our heads, they appear to be washing their hands of the consequent and obvious impact on privacy and civil liberties," he said.
"We are already under huge amounts of surveillance when we are in public. Unless we are vigilant, drones will see surveillance – by police and security agencies or simply by private companies – spread into our private space."
King added: "The British government's abject failure to recognise and address the human rights issues involved in the increasing ubiquity of surveillance drones has created a huge potential for abuse."
Bigger UAVs can be flown only in restricted airspace. The military has permission to fly UAVs in certain areas, but otherwise, the testing of the larger systems takes place at the privately owned West Wales airport, which says it is "the only site in Europe that can enable the flying of unmanned aerial systems under regulated conditions … over land and sea".
Organisations seeking approval to fly small UAVs in UK airspace
(Owner ID number/Company name)
1 HoverCam
2 Meggitt Defence Systems
3 EagleEye (Aerial Photography) Ltd
4 Remote Services Limited
5 High Spy RC Aerial Photography
6 Magsurvey Limited
7 Pi In The Sky
8 Qinetiq
9 Eye In The Sky
10 AngleCam
11 Helicam Ltd
12 Flying Minicameras Ltd
13 S & C Thermofluids Ltd
14 Remote Airworks (pty) Ltd
15 National Grid
16 Dragonfly Aerial Photography
17 BlueBear Systems Research
18 William Walker
19 European UAV Systems Centre Ltd
20 In-House Films Ltd
21 MBDA UK Ltd
22 European UAV Systems Centre
23 Dorset Fire & Rescue Service
24 Conocophillips Limited
25 Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service
26 West Midlands Fire Service
27 Advanced Ceramics Research
28 UA Systems Ltd (Swisscopter)
29 Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd
30 Flight Refuelling Limited
31 BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd
32 Lindstrand Technologies Ltd
33 Upper Cut Productions
34 Cranfield University
35 Peregrine Media Ltd
36 Horizon Aerial Photography
37 Rory Game
38 Alan Stevens
39 Helipix LLP
40 Re-use*
41 Mike Garner
42 Cyberhawk Innovations Ltd
43 Staffordshire Police TPU
44 Merseyside Police
45 Health and Safety Laboratory
46 David Hogg
47 MRL Ltd
48 MRL Ltd
49 Re-use*
50 Dominic Blundell
51 Re-use*
52 Re-use*
53 Skylens Aerial Photography
54 Bonningtons Aerial Surveys
55 Small UAV Enterprises
56 British Technical Films
57 CARVEC Systems Ltd
58 Flying-Scots'Cam
59 Pulse Corporation Ltd (t/a Overshoot Photography)
60 Motor Bird Ltd
61 Advanced Aerial Imagery
62 AM-UAS Limited
63 Re-use*
64 Gatewing NV
65 Questuav Ltd
66 Advanced UAV Technology Ltd
67 Air 2 Air
68 MW Power Systems Limited
69 Re-use*
70 Roke Manor Research Ltd
71 Re-use*
72 NPIA
73 Pete Ulrick
74 Re-use*
75 SSE Power Distribution
76 University of Worcester
77 Re-use*
78 Rovision Ltd
79 Callen-Lenz Associates Ltd (Gubua Group)
80 SKM Studio
81 GWR Associates
82 Phoenix Model Aviation
83 Copycat
84 HD Skycam
85 Re-use*
86 Gary White
87 Aerial Target Systems Ltd
88 Aerial Target Systems
89 Re-use*
90 Video Golf Marketing Ltd
91 Re-use*
92 Helivisuals Ltd
93 Essex Police
94 Marlborough Comms Ltd
95 Re-use*
96 Siemans Wind Power A/S
97 Altimeter UK Ltd t/a Visionair
98 T/A Remote Imaging
99 Re-use*
100 Daniel Baker
101 Sky Futures
102 Aerovironment Inc
103 Spherical Images Ltd
104 Flying Camera Systems
105 Highviz Photography
106 ESDM Ltd
107 Flying Camera Systems Limited
108 Edward Martin
109 Digital Mapping and Survey Ltd
110 EDF NNB GenCo Ltd
111 EDF
112 Re-use*
113 AerialVue Ltd
114 Minerva NI Limited
115 Flying Fern Films Ltd
116 Out Filming Ltd
117 Hexcam Ltd
118 McKenzie Geospatial Surveys Ltd
119 Resource UAS
120 Plum Pictures
121 Jonathan Malory
122 Mas-UK Ltd
123 Bailey Balloons Ltd
124 David Bush
125 Southampton University
126 Helipov
127 Costain Ltd
128 Sky-Futures
129 Jonathan Blaxill
130 Roke Manor Research Ltd
131 Colin Bailie
132 British Broadcasting Corp
133 Simon Hailey
134 Re-use*
135 Trimvale Aviation
136 PSH Skypower Ltd
137 Aerosight Ltd
171 Re-use*
173 Colin Bailie
174 Simon Field
175 Re-use*
176 Aerial Graphical Services
177 Think Aerial Photography
178 Hedge Air Limited
179 Scottish Environment Protection Agency
180 Skypower Limited
181 Elevation Images
182 Universal Sky Pictures
183 MBDA UK Ltd
184 Helicammedia
185 Oculus Systems Ltd
186 MASA Ltd
187 Doozee Aerial Systems Ltd
188 Selex Galileo
189 Whisperdrone
190 Z-Axis
191 Rotarama Ltd
192 Re-use*
193 BBC (Natural History Unit)
194 Flying Camera Company
195 Flying Camera Company
* Short-term approval that was granted, but now no longer applies
Source: CAA