WATCHDOG BLOCKS USE OF DRONES AS SURVEILLANCE FOR COVID RESTRICTIONS

France's privacy watchdog has banned the use of drone cameras to enforce coronavirus restrictions and for other law enforcement purposes, marking a victory for groups arguing that the pandemic has given rise to excessive surveillance.

France's Interior Ministry had conducted drone flights “outside of any legal framework,” the privacy watchdog said in its strongly worded rebuke released Thursday.

France imposed some of Europe's toughest measures in response to the virus last year and initially deployed helicopters and drones to monitor adherence to the rules. But privacy activists feared that the drone monitoring could serve as a trial run for more expansive surveillance programs. The concerns prompted a legal challenge and a ruling by France's highest court last May to suspend the practices in Paris.

Privacy groups said French authorities carried on despite the ruling, continuing to deploy drones at protests.