Use of Drones in Disasters in the European Union: Privacy Issues and Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic and Mass Surveillance Jurisprudence of the ECtHR and the CJEU

Severe earthquakes, extreme floods, tragic accidents, mega-fires, and even viruses belong to disasters that can destroy the economic, social, or cultural life of people. Due to the climate crisis, disasters will likely become more frequent and intense over the years. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs/drones) have obtained an increasing role in disaster management, which was particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, lack of social acceptability remains a limiting factor of drone usage. Drones as a means of state surveillance—possibly mass surveillance—are subject to certain limits since their advanced monitoring technology, including Artificial Intelligence, may affect human rights, such as the right to privacy. Due to the severity of the pandemic, which has been described as the “ideal state of emergency”, despite the rising use of drones, such privacy concerns have been underestimated so far. At the same time, the existing approach of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the COVID-19 health crisis and human rights during emergencies seems rather conservative and, thus, setting limits between conflicting rights in such exceptional circumstances remains vague. Under these conditions, the fear that the COVID-19 pandemic may have become a starting point for transitioning to a world normalizing the exception is evident. Such fear in terms of privacy implies a world with a narrowed scope of privacy; thus, setting questions and exploring the challenges about the future of drone regulation, especially in the European Union, are crucial.