AERIAL WITNESS LTD – Privacy Notice
Last Updated: 13.08.2026
This privacy notice explains how Aerial Witness Ltd ("we", "our", "us") collects, uses, and protects personal data obtained through our drone survey operations, social media documentary production, and standard business interactions.
We are registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under registration number ZC201763
1. The Types of Personal Data We Collect
Because we operate unmanned aerial systems (drones) and produce media for public distribution, we collect and process the following types of personal data:
⦁ Aerial Imagery and Video Footage: High-definition video and photography captured during drone flights, which may incidentally or intentionally identify individuals, private properties, or vehicle registration plates.
⦁ Client and Commercial Data: Names, email addresses, phone numbers, billing addresses, and payment details of our commercial clients and partners.
⦁ Digital and Social Media Data: Public comments, handles, and interactions left on our social media documentary channels.
2. How We Get Personal Data and Why We Have It
Most of the personal data we process is provided to us directly by you or captured during our authorised flight operations. Under the UK GDPR, the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:
⦁ Contractual Obligation: We process client data to fulfil our survey and media contracts.
⦁ Legitimate Interests: We process flight footage for commercial drone surveys, safety logs, and social media documentaries. Our legitimate interest is running a commercial media and surveying business, provided it does not override your fundamental privacy rights.
⦁ Consent: For close-up, intentional filming or interviews for our documentaries, we will ask for your explicit verbal or written consent.
3. Drone Operations and "Collateral Intrusion"
Our drone surveys focus strictly on assets, terrain, and infrastructure. However, due to the nature of aerial filming, we may accidentally capture bystander data.
To respect your privacy, we actively minimize this ("collateral intrusion") by:
⦁ Planning flight paths that avoid residential windows and private gardens.
⦁ Applying digital blurring to faces and vehicle registration plates before uploading any documentary footage to social media.
⦁ Deploying prominent ground signage on-site during active operations to inform the public that filming is underway.
4. Data Storage and Retention
We store your data securely on encrypted cloud servers and password-protected local hard drives. We only keep your data for as long as necessary:
⦁ Raw Survey Footage (unblurred): Kept for [e.g., 30 days / 3 months] following project completion to allow for client sign-off, after which it is securely deleted or archived securely.
⦁ Final Documentary Footage: Maintained indefinitely on our social media channels or until a legitimate deletion or blurring request is made.
⦁ Client Records: Kept for [e.g., 6 years] to comply with UK tax and accounting laws.
5. Your Data Protection Rights
Under UK data protection law, you have rights we want to make you aware of:
⦁ Your right of access: You can ask us for copies of your personal data (including requesting to see if you appear in our raw drone footage).
⦁ Your right to rectification: You can ask us to correct information you think is inaccurate.
⦁ Your right to erasure: You can ask us to erase your personal data, or request that we blur your face/property out of our social media videos.
⦁ Your right to restriction of processing: You can ask us to restrict how we use your data in certain circumstances.
6. New 2026 Complaints Procedure
If you have any concerns or wish to exercise your rights regarding footage we have captured, please contact us directly:
⦁ Contact Name: Data Compliance Manager
⦁ Email Address: info@aerialwitness.co.uk
⦁ Postal Address: 35 Forgefields, Herne, Herne Bay, Kent. CT6 7TF
In accordance with UK law, we will formally acknowledge your complaint within 30 days and work to resolve your issue swiftly without undue delay.
If you remain dissatisfied after exhausting our internal complaints process, you have the right to escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
⦁ ICO Website: https://ico.org.uk
⦁ Helpline: 0303 123 1113