National Security Act 2023 - Implications for Drone Flyers

Drone News
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So Geeksvana did a 46 minute video on this very recently. But it’s all pretty much common sense and not difficult to work out at all. In fact in will hopefully impact the favourite description that @Windswept likes to term them, ’ Frauditors ’ :joy:

The National Security Act 2023 will see more restricted airspace around sites that quite frankly I’d have no interesting in flying over.

The link to the Act is here … https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/32/enacted

However this is a section of the Act any genuine hobbyist needs to pay attention to …

4 Entering etc a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK

(1)A person commits an offence if—

(a)the person—

(i)accesses, enters, inspects, passes over or under, approaches or is in the vicinity of a prohibited place, or

(ii)causes an unmanned vehicle or device to access, enter, inspect, pass over or under, approach or be in the vicinity of a prohibited place, and

(b)that conduct is for a purpose that the person knows, or having regard to other matters known to them ought reasonably to know, is prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom.

(2)In subsection (1)(a) a reference to inspecting a prohibited place includes—

(a)taking, or procuring the taking of, photographs, videos or other recordings of the prohibited place;

(b)inspecting photographs, videos or other recordings of the prohibited place.

(3)For the purposes of this section, a person engages in conduct mentioned in subsection (1)(a) if the person does so in person or by electronic or remote means.

(4)Subsection (1) applies whether the person’s conduct takes place in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

(5)A person who commits an offence under this section is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years or a fine (or both).

(6)In this Part “vehicle” means any form of transport.

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Yeah, I watched some of his stream and it seems like something aimed at the undesirable part of the community that really need a good kicking for acting like complete bell ends.

But if you use common sense and follow the rules, this act affects the rest of us very little.

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Assume drone scene will have a new layer once the govt. Sort the list. I actually used this video to fall asleep to… I got 4 mins in before the sheep jumped the fences… Not sure if that was Sean or the fact was bloody late and I was tired!

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Hence why I never posted a direct link to the video. :wink: :joy:

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:flushed:

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It’d be rude not to :+1:t2:

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I too watched this. Surprising that unless the govt publish a list of areas where you cannot fly, we’ll never know if we’re unwittingly breaking this law. I also noticed, they can designate vehicles you cannot fly near ( wondering if they’ll now have to publish lists of vehicle movement and route? ) I also noticed mention of “ in the vicinity of “ Wonder how far, in the vicinity of, is actually going to be ?
Seems it’s not only going to be the CAA that are in charge of our skies.

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I’d imagine this is mainly aimed at Royal Navy warships etc. The actual wording of the act is quite interesting. Seems like a lot of it leaves very little wiggle room for DJ and his mates…

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Also worth noting that this section:

a vehicle—

(i)situated in the United Kingdom or the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia which is used for UK defence purposes or for the purposes of the defence of a foreign country or territory;

would also have covered the chap who @Windswept featured on his channel who got assaulted by French sailors after flying near their ship.

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Satellite operators ?
Google maps ?

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I’d imagine the prohibited spaces will be military bases, airports, prisons and infrastructure of a sensitive nature.

Really the sort of places that either morons or auditors usually fly.

Probably won’t effect the vast majority of us who fly by the rules or fly away from people in broken buildings etc

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Exactly… I hope it makes it extremely inconvenient for them all.

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oh dear… I fear I’m going to be prosecuted for looking at Google earth with a daft but curious interest in missile sites and bunkers and all sorts of other potentially “prohibited” places…

gawd some of these things are just bull…

please tell me why the current espionage and treason laws are not sufficient as we need yet another load of bull

if we don’t and can’t enforce current laws … please tell me what the chances of doing it with another pile of paper?

maybe we need another punishment for breaking laws… death by being buried under pointless paperwork…

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does make me smile that it may become illegal to photograph a prohibited building or something

really daft!

think about it… most architects make buildings flashy… even gchq has a really iconic building (ok never seen it in the flesh, from above below or fence). but I’ve seen the donut shape so it’s now supposed to be illegal to photograph outside of it …

… houses of parliament… downing Street… prison etc etc etc…

if you can see it from a roadway or pavement you should be allowed to photograph it.

ok drone image from above a bit questionable… just put an frz in place (I think there are a few of these over the nuclear sites like Springfield’s and capenhurst etc… rolls Royce I think too… )

just enforce those and not this bs about ALL photography of anything deemed prohibited … I guess every police station, council building hospital, courthouse outhouse etc will end up trying to somehow become a prohibited site…,…

they are aware that most cars have dash cams these days… I have no idea what it records (untill I may need to CMA)

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Hmmm , not sure that French ships are covered by the act. They don’t exactly help provide British Security ( unless escorting rubber dinghies across the Channel counts ) :joy::joy::joy:

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The sooner these frauditors receive a prison sentence the better. I honestly think most of them come across as a bit brash and argumentative. They seem to be pushing boundaries to see just how far they can get. I particularly hate the ones who obviously don’t follow the drone code, by explaining live, what they can see on their remote screens. ( supposed to strive to keep your eye on the drone, not the screen ) :roll_eyes::roll_eyes::roll_eyes::roll_eyes:

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They make me laugh. Especially the Greek sounding fella that randomly takes pictures of police stations and police officers cars and then protests when they detain him to see what he’s all about :man_shrugging:

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They introduced them so they have a semi effective way to deal with those Just Stop Oil numps that keep clogging up the streets. Class them all as foreign spies and throw away the key.

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Quite simply we have been using an Act, namely the Official Secrets Act since 1911. The various threats to our nation have dramatically increased over the years and it’s about time those working in the counter-espionage field have modern laws to use against those threats.

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Greetings all from Maidenhead. I am totally new to drones and have just purchased a mini 3. I am still trying to understand where I learn to fly the drone and enjoy. You have referenced a certain video in this thread. Where can I find this video as I just want to ensure that when I go out to enjoy my purchase, I am not breaking any laws. Thanks for your help in advance.

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They only thing you will do is break your consciousness and fall into a deep sleep! :joy: