Privacy laws for drone operators in Canada

When carrying out UAV operations, what privacy laws apply generally depends on the operator and the operation. This video breaks down what laws are specific to these circumstances, and those that apply to everyone.
Where you can find me
► Privacylawyer blog: blog.privacylawyer.ca
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► LinkedIn: / davidtsfr. .
Disclaimer: This is intended for education and information only and should not be taken as legal advice. If you need advice for your particular situation, you should seek out qualified counsel.
All views expressed are solely those of the creator and should not be attributed to his firm or any of its clients.

[@firepuncher1]

Came and watched again David, thanks much!

[@DonJoyce]

Wow! What an information-packed video! Thanks David for publishing this! I produce a TON of videos on my channel related to drone regulations and safe practices in Canada, but have generally dodged the privacy issue with a broad, "don't film people where they would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as in their backyard". Your video provides much more detail. I will refer people to this video whenever I address privacy issues going forward.

[@privacylawyer]

Thanks, Don. I appreciate your videos and your advocacy for the drone-flying community.

[@TheoWerewolf]

Thank you so much for this. I've been advising drone operators about the actual privacy laws vs the grumpy old guy who walks up to you and grumble "you can go to jail for flying that drone" and yes, I took the time to study the laws at the federal and provincial levels before doing this. It's a huge relief to hear an actual lawyer basically confirm what I've been saying. :) I know this is a little out of your domain, but I would LOVE to see a video on blanket bans of drone use (for recreational use specifically). Many cities ban takeoff and landing (or operation of) a drone in a park, and that's legal, but flying over a park if you launch outside of that park in a public space (assume no other restrictions) based on everything I've read, is legal (subject to privacy and nuisance law infringement of course). Calgary has some very nicely done bylaws that really seem to try and strike a balance while Edmonton explicitly bans microdrone use for commercial or recreational use essentially anywhere in the city. In metro Vancouver, it's a patchwork quilt. Most cities restrict takeoff and landing in parks, Coquitlam goes further to restrict operation of a drone in a park - but Richmond and Langley have no restrictions at all. All in all, as a microdrone operator who is trying his level best to be a considerate operator, the anxiety this causes is palpable. :) In the end though what I cite is more or less what you do at the end of this video: airspace is not owned by municipalities or the private citizen, it's solely owned and controlled by Transport Canada and is considered "public space." I have a legal obligation to not invade someone privacy, so flying my drone so the camera is pointing at their window and hovering is right out, but if I'm flying high over residential areas (typically 50m or more) and not focused on any specific location (other than public ones like monuments or public buildings), then I am not violating anyone's privacy, nor am I violating any legally applicable restrictions (assuming the area I'm over isn't a Class F restricted zone, a notified temporary restricted zone, a forest fire management zone or a national park).

[@rreiter]

Thanks for the video! It's great to get some clarity on this from another Canadian rPAS pilot who's also trained in the law.

[@pantich78]

Thank you so much for this video. You made something complicated really clear easy to understand!

[@TheWhiteHatter]

Great informative video as always! Totally something we will be sharing with families.

[@arjunmohandas8870]

Your work is great and really informative. Please continue these videos

[@haedubabaganush]

Thank you for the explanation and clarity re privacy.

[@firepuncher1]

Super interesting, thanks for this

[@peaceandlove2555]

Thanks so much for this important information 👍🏻

[@TheOneDroneMan]

Great video. Many people have a distorted perception about drones being there to spy on them. In reality you'd have to fly extremely close to see anything of personal nature. I record drone footage to sell as editorial stock footage. The less people in the shot, the better. People from a distance are fine.

[@TechLeprechaun]

This was very informative, thank you. Curious if you (or any of your undoubtedly intelligent audience) have any Saskatoon-centric knowledge. To clarify, City of Saskatoon considers the entirety of city property to be restricted fly zones. I personally fly a sub-250 (DJI Mini SE). According to CFAA a "drone" is between 250g - 25kg if I recall correctly. Can a city statute/bylaw/etc still affect my use? I otherwise follow basically all the rules/safe practices (over parks, not creepy, avoid directly hovering over people) and the height restrictions set due to a nearby airport. My use is almost solely recreational, and the twice I've used it on a jobsite were with full consent of the controlling party for specific purpose.

[@MadMajor86]

Thank you for the very informative video. The business aspect is of particular interest to me. Does getting consent also apply to ancillary capture of information? For example, I carry out a roof inspection and the client's neighbour is captured in the video, mowing his lawn, or there is a strange red car in their driveway. What now? If I don't publish the video and just use some of it for the client, do I still need their consent?

[@scottkyba]

Hey David. Awesome videos and channel. Question. If there are (no drone signs) in a park or on city hall property i can still fly into that space, just not operate it form inside that space. And can nuisance be like noise from the drone?

[@TheoWerewolf]

Many municipalities restrict launching and landing, or even operating a drone on certain properties (parks in particular) and that's legal, however, they cannot stop you from flying *over* those areas unless they have obtained a flight restriction zone designation for the area from Transport Canada. Noise on the other hand, is a different issue. If you're flying high enough up, then it's unlikely they can hear, but lower down, that can be an issue. Also, of course, if you're flying your drone under a certain height, you can also be liable for reckless endangerment - and that's explicitly prohibited in CAR 900.03 - which is the ONLY CAR reg that applies to microdrones.

[@tanyat105]

How do the police catch , these drones that fly over homes without permission, can they be caught when they are not there when the police show up,

[@investigativeresearchcounc8388]

What about the police use of automatic license plate readers? unreasonable search?

[@jeffclark5268]

Public place, public info…

[@thane5665]

I am driving down a public road and notice a train approaching. I get my drone in the air and fly beside the train capturing the engineer waving at my drone.I am over 100 feet from the engineer,but I notice the train has now entered the marshalling yard for the railway(private property..no trespassing ...) My intended use of video is for sharing on KZbin. Where may the legal issue begin?

[@BlabbermouthRex]

Does reasonable expectation of privacy extend to a boss who is using a private meeting to violate an employee's rights? Would I be justified in recording my boss yelling at me in an abusive manner and then using that recording to have him/her charged with abuse of power?