Drones have become ubiquitous: from small toys to remote piloted aircrafts,they are not uncommon anymore. FOSS is fundamental for the drone (or UAV)environment: several drone platforms are based on it, like Dronecode andvarious autopilot systems. The talk will address the possible interactionswith FOSS drone components, and the pressing issues of security and privacy. Drones were, not many years ago, an exotic item, straight from SF movies. Invery few years, they have become ubiquitous, and FOSS has played a fundamentalrole in this very fast expansion. Several important drone platforms andsoftware rely on FOSS components, and one of the most prominent projects,Dronecode, is governed by the Linux Foundation. The expansion of drones hastriggered a regulatory frenzy, not only at the national level, but also at theEuropean one: EASA (the European Aviation Safety Authority) has alreadyreleased the second draft of the ‘Prototype’ Commission Regulation on UnmannedAircraft Operations, which may be approved during 2017, while the EU GeneralData Protection Regulation 2016/679 has several articles which have a directinfluence on the developing of drones. Principles like data protection bydesign and data protection by default cannot be ignored for developersinvolved in FOSS drone platforms. The talk will examine the current (andfuture) European Legal framework, in order to assess the interactions betweenEU safety security and privacy regulations, and the “FOSS powered” developmentof drones. |