IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2014 - 22

leading edge

Regulating Spies in the
Skies: Recommendations
for Drone Rules in Canada

A

erial drones are increasingly being repurposed for domestic use and legislated for
public and commercial purposes around
the world. Japan, Australia, Canada, and
the U.K. are among some of the countries with civil
drone regulations in place, and there are many others
soon to follow.1 In fact, Canada had legislated civilian
use of drones as early as 1996, when the term "nonpiloted aircraft" was introduced into the official rules
governing Canada's airspace, the Canadian Aviation
Regulations [2]. What was it that prompted the need
for regulations in Canada at such a nascent stage in
the technology's development?
In 1996, the federal ministry of Environment
Canada began negotiations with a U.S. company to
deploy drones as part of the company's international
Aerosonde program [3]. The goal of the company,
The Insitu Group, was to build drones for meteorological purposes. The plan came to fruition in April
of 1998 when The Insitu Group launched four drones
off the coast of Tofino in British Columbia, making
it one of the first companies to operate drones commercially in the country. four months later, The Insitu
Group embarked on another pioneering mission
when they launched the Aerosonde "Laima" drone
over the Atlantic Ocean beginning in Newfoundland,
Canada and ending in South Uist, Scotland. This
event marked the first drone to successfully cross the
Atlantic Ocean [4], [5]. This flight, however, is historic for another reason. The successful deployment
1

Other countries with civil drone regulations in place as of September 2013
include, the Czech Republic, france, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland. for more information see [1].
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2014.2345202
Date of publication: 17 September 2014

22

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SHAYNA
GERSHER

of the Laima drone generated excitement in the commercial sector and helped to encourage the development of Canada's non-military market for drones [6].
By 2007, nearly a decade later, Canada was home to
220 drone-related companies in all sectors [7], and in
the same year, the industry generated an impressive
$787 million in total sales [8].
Today, Canada has numerous manufacturers
of drones, as well as research institutes dedicated
to furthering their technological development. We
have companies offering their drone services for
aerial filming, real estate, geosurveying, agriculture, infrastructure inspection, law enforcement and
private security, and even to chase away geese at
Ottawa's Petrie Island [9]. Public agencies, such as
Canada's police services are some of the most active
users of the technology, with federal, provincial,
and regional police services presently engaged in
drone operations.
Of the various potential uses for drones, the vast
majority require sensory equipment of some kind. In
the case of drones operated beyond the line of sight,
they require information about their surroundings
simply in order to operate safely. Apart from hobbyists flying small drones within line of sight and
without the use of a camera, there are few drone uses
that do not require equipment that inherently takes in
information regarding its environment. for the most
part then, drones are intrinsically a surveillance technology. They can capture information from various
types of cameras, including night vision, infrared, and
cameras with high power lenses [10]. They can also
capture signals from tracking devices, as well as intercept communication signals [11]. Moreover, software
can be used to augment these layers of sensory input,
including programs such as license plate readers, or in
the future, facial recognition software.
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

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fALL 2014



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