Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what role the Information Commissioner’s Office has in (a) the trial of the Aeroyn Skyranger drone around Gatwick Airport and (b) any other use of other surveillance aircraft operated by Government departments, agents or public bodies in the UK.

Simon Hughes

The Information Commissioner’s Office has no specific role in the trial of the Aeryon Skyranger drone around Gatwick Airport. Members of the Information Commissioner’s staff sit on the Cross-Government Working Group on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. They advise on any data protection compliance issues that arise.

In addition the ICO is currently consulting on its revised CCTV code of practice which includes a section on remotely operated vehicles, or drones:

http://ico.org.uk/about_us/consultations/our_consultations

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