UK puts £20.5M behind 'numberplate for the skies' to keep tabs on drones

The UK will spend £20.5 million developing "a numberplate system for the skies" that will centrally record the identity and location of drones when in flight. From the start of this year, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has required some drones to fly with Direct Remote ID enabled, broadcasting identity and location to nearby …

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Obviously

Everyone in government since the Blair years is a lawyer.

All legal problems can obviously be solved by a new law

[Catkin]

Re: Obviously

It's double plus good when the legislation is written 'swiftly', in much the same way as a swiftly written essay is better than one written with care and consideration or a swiftly delivered brick is the best way to solve a toothache.

[EdSaxby]

Re: Obviously

That's why they are lawyers, your average person would say "the legislation is written 'hastily'".

Although, I am also glad that they did not state they were "proceeding at pace with an abundance of caution". That would have made me throw up a little.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Obviously

At least Blair's government had the good sense to prohibit civilian nuclear explosions = sensible policies for a sensible Britain

[BartyFartsLast]

Re: Obviously

Just wait, we've not seen them extol the advantages of using AI to draft them.

Yet.

[NoneSuch]

The Obvious Political Answer

Get law abiding people to register their drones.

No one would DARE fly an unlicensed drone would they.

That's how to politicians solved the e-bike crisis, right? Right!?

[tr7v8]

Re: The Obvious Political Answer

Quite right. It's the legitimate users that are carrying the can for this. Anyone can and does buy a drone and use it illegally, without registration.

Already we have creeping scope of the CAA, both the cost and specification.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Top Secret

Can we let this brilliant strategy become public knowledge?

What if those Rooskies read it and chose to ban Ukrainian drones from Russian airbases ?

[Andy The Hat]

Re: The Obvious Political Answer

That's the way things work nowadays. You can't police the bad guys so you police everyone else instead.

[Anonymous Coward]

A very pro-drone proposal...

...just think how many will have to be hired to process all that UAV paperwork.

[Catkin]

Not like ANPR

ANPR would be more akin to setting up base stations that record the Remote ID of passing drones. This proposal is like mandating an internet connected black box in every vehicle on the road, that tattles on you if you do anything Aunty decides she doesn't approve of.

Admittedly, this was mentioned in the article but I really don't think the two are comparable.

[IGotOut]

That reminds me....

...I must make sure when I do a bank robbery, that my car has the correct number plates and is up to date on tax and insurance.

[MachDiamond]

Re: That reminds me....

"must make sure when I do a bank robbery, that my car has the correct number plates and is up to date on tax and insurance."

That might be the best tactic. Getting caught due to expired plates and insurance would be a real bummer. It's like watching the cop shows where they find a van full of pot after pulling the driver over for excessive speed. Not just speeding, but going way over. They may also be stoned and weaving all over, have lights out, a tinted windscreen or other obvious deficiency.

Put the counterfeit plate on while doing the robbery and have a way to make it fall off a couple of blocks away in case anybody/cctv took note.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: That reminds me....

I reported a car to Operation Snap the weekend with footage of a car:

crossing the double solid white line

doing it at the brow of a hill (causing me to swerve and brake)

less than 1M from a cyclist he was overtaking

So three offences punishable by points and a fine

The result?

"We'll write them a letter asking them to take more care on the road"

I think I'll nip out later and do some stealing, in the hope that if I'm caught they send me a letter telling me not to do it again.

[may_i]

Idiocy

Even if the supposed drones at Gatwick were real, which I very much doubt, this system is pointless.

Bad actors won't fit transponders to their RC aircraft. Honest people, who are already demonised for wanting to fly RC aircraft will have extra weight to add to their craft and extra expense. The system will undoubtedly not protect the privacy of the model flyer and it won't prevent bad actors either.

More knee-jerk reactions from politicians who either don't understand technology, or, they're lying and not stating the real reason to introduce the system.

[nobody who matters]

Re: Idiocy

A very high proportion of all the new laws introduced over the last few decades fall into the 'knee-jerk' category, and almost all of them demonise normal law abiding citizens whilst the criminals and the reckless carry on as before.

[MachDiamond]

Re: Idiocy

"Bad actors won't fit transponders to their RC aircraft"

it's built in to newer craft.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Idiocy

>it's built in to newer craft.

But built in in China ?

If only GPS had been invented int he 1940s we could have insisted that Jerry built tracking into V1s

[BartyFartsLast]

Re: Idiocy

Built by any hobbyist, there are hundreds if not thousands of places to buy the components you need to build a drone, you can even 3d print a lot of the parts and the RID module is a separate item which is not useful or needed for *any* function on the drone except compliance with this stupid law.

Yet again, government passes laws which do nothing except surveil, inconvenience and stretch the pockets of the law abiding and responsible people while the people who seek to cause distress, disturbance and chaos will just ignore them, because shock horror, they were planning criminal acts already.

[BartyFartsLast]

Re: Idiocy

Care to show me where the transponder is in my home built multi rotor only I don't remember fitting one?

[General_concensus]

How secure is this.. ?

I rig up an SDR to fish for a passing drone's DRID, I clone it onto my drone, and I fly where I like with no consequences..?

[MachDiamond]

Re: How secure is this.. ?

"I rig up an SDR to fish for a passing drone's DRID, I clone it onto my drone, and I fly where I like with no consequences..?"

It would be just as easy to enter fictitious information into your drone's RID settings. It's bluetooth so very short range anyway. It's going to be one of those things where a lack is only going to be a problem if something else goes wrong where you get collared.

My Phantom 4 didn't have RID built in so I had to get a little device to strap on. The issue is that anywhere I strap it on interferes with something. On top blocks the GPS. On a leg blocks communication with the remote. On the bottom blocks sensors for collision avoidance. I just turn the thing on and stick it in my pocket. I'm licensed, insured and get an authorization for flying in controlled space.

If I were a bad guy, I'd not have any of that or I'd forge a few things. I doubt that a local copper would know the difference. My license reads "Department of Transportation - Federal Aviation Administration" and hotel staff at the front desk happily accept it as a government employee ID for a discounted room. The whole RID is theatre. Something needed to be done, they did something, something had been seen being done. Never mind that it's useless and just a money pit. Government is good at that sort of thing. Instead of having curb side check in of luggage at the airport where they can whisk it downstairs and give it a thorough rummaging, they make people stand in a queue and their luggage is sent down at the last minute. Online age-verification is turning into another one of these debacles. It's a very complex problem and the rush is on so only very simple solutions can be considered so it's implemented this week. The downside is that a simple solution won't work, will be easy to circumvent and will eventually be ignored by all leaving behind a government agency that will cost loads and live on long past it doing anything.

[General_concensus]

Re: How secure is this.. ?

And on the other foot, someone steals my DRID, flies a drone over somewhere bad and the cops knock on my door?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: How secure is this.. ?

And naturally Police / ICE / FBI / NSA / MMB / Palantir, and a variety of other TLA agency drones don't have ID and it's a federal crime to track them (or be aware of their existence)

[Winkypop]

Come in number 654335680244553B

Your time is up!

[IGotOut]

The real reason?

Probably want to keep away drone flyers that are keeping an eye on the police at peaceful protests.