The ruling threatens to shut down ‘a whole business sector,’ said Gustav Gerdes, president of the Swedish association of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) that groups about 2,000 licensed drone pilots.
Speaking on Swedish Radio, he said the Supreme Administrative Court ruling would affect companies that use drones to survey large areas, for instance firms involved in construction or forestry.
In its decision Friday, the court ruled that drones equipped with a camera were to be considered surveillance cameras, and therefore needed a special permit to ensure individual privacy was respected.
The ruling also applies for private individuals who own drones.
Media organizations were upset as the ruling means they can no longer use drones to cover a major accident, for instance, said Jeanette Gustafsdotter, managing director of the Swedish Media Publishers' Association.
‘It is a typical example of how outdated legislation faces new technology in a way that seems to be somewhat ridiculous,’ she said, saying that media outlets would lobby for a change.
The Swedish Data Protection Authority pushed the case to secure a precedent and to ‘find out the boundaries of the law, said Martin Hemberg, a lawyer with the authority.
He told Swedish Radio it was ‘important to ensure everyone's right to privacy... as drones can film or photograph from high up in the air without people being aware of it.’
The surveillance camera law that dates back to the 1970s is likely to be revised, Hemberg said, but would need to take into account pending European Union legislation on data retention.
Over the weekend, members of the opposition said they would request Justice Minister Morgan Johansson inform parliament about what steps were being taken to revise the law.
