Kent academic Dr Alan McKenna has been speaking to BBC Radio Oxford and BBC Radio Berkshire about the regulations applying to drones.<\/p>\n
Dr McKenna, an Associate Lecturer in Law at Kent Law School, has recently undertaken research into the levels of drone complaints received by various police forces across the UK. Following news that more people are complaining about the use of drones to Thames Valley Police than almost any other police force in the country (with 31 complaints in the last two years), Dr McKenna was invited by local regional BBC broadcasters to speak about privacy and safety issues relating to their use.<\/p>\n
In an interview<\/a> with BBC Radio Oxford, Dr McKenna said that drones have become an important and valuable asset for commercial organisations with companies such as Network Rail employing them to investigate potential faults on railway infrastructure. Commenting on current regulations, as set out by the Civil Aviation Authority, Dr McKenna said: \u2018The problem is not the level of regulation but the effective enforcement of regulation.\u2019<\/p>\n Earlier this year Dr McKenna contributed written evidence to a House of Lords report, Civilian Use of Drones in the EU<\/a>. The report was published by the European Union Committee on 5 March. Earlier in August Dr McKenna\u2019s article \u2018The Public Acceptance Challenge Facing Civil Drone Use<\/a>\u2019 was published by the Huffington Post.<\/p>\n In addition to research interests in drones, data protection and privacy, Dr McKenna\u2019s areas of research expertise include communication law, information law, media, human rights, information technology law, international commercial law, and asbestos-related issues.<\/p>\n Two previous articles written by Dr McKenna have also been published by the Huffington Post in recent weeks: \u2018The Forgotten Issue Behind an Assisted Suicide<\/a>\u2019 (on 18 August) and \u2018Operation Stack – A Story of Inept Governance<\/a>\u2019 (on 13 August).<\/p>\n Listen again to Dr McKenna\u2019s interview on BBC Radio Oxford at: www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p02z7gg3#play<\/a> (immediately at the beginning and again, 07:50 minutes into the recording). Dr McKenna\u2019s interview on BBC Radio Berkshire\u2019s Andrew Peach show (with Vernon Harwood) is available at: www.bbc.co.uk\/radioberkshire<\/a> (immediately at the beginning and again approximately 22 minutes into the show).<\/p>\n For further details of Dr McKenna\u2019s research interests and publications, visit his staff profile page<\/a>.<\/p>\n