Understanding the Data Protection Law's Impact on Drone Operations

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (‘DPDP Act’) and its implementing rules - Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (‘DPDP Rules’) have established India's first comprehensive framework for personal data protection. Most drone operations involve some form of personal data collection, whether through imagery, operational logs, or customer information.

When Drone Operations Involve Personal Data

The DPDP Act governs data about individuals who are identifiable by or in relation to such data. For drone companies, this can arise in many ways. Two of these are:

1. Delivery operations routinely collect recipient details including names, phone numbers, delivery addresses, GPS coordinates, and sometimes proof-of-delivery photographs or video. All of this constitutes personal data because it relates to identifiable individuals.

2. Drone-as-a-Service platforms process operational logs, user KYC documents, contact information, geolocation data, and flight records linked to specific pilots or operators. Survey and inspection services often capture imagery that incidentally includes faces, vehicle registration plates, or house numbers.

Under the DPDP Act, the entity that determines how this data is collected and used is the data fiduciary - typically the drone operator or, in certain cases, their client. Any activity involving personal data, including collection, storage, analysis, or sharing, falls within the scope of 'processing' and triggers compliance obligations.

Key Compliance Requirements

The DPDP Act and DPDP Rules impose several foundational obligations on data fiduciaries. While comprehensive compliance will require tailored implementation, these are the core requirements that affect most drone operations:

1. Notice and consent. When personal data is collected based on consent, data fiduciaries must provide clear notice in plain language explaining what data is being collected, the purpose of processing, and how individuals can exercise their rights under the Act.

2. Security safeguards. DPDP Rules specify minimum security measures including data masking, encryption, access controls, logging and monitoring, and regular backups. Personal data and logs relevant to breach detection or investigation must generally be retained for at least one year.

3. Purpose limitation. Personal data can only be collected and processed for specific, lawful purposes that are communicated upfront to data principals. Further processing must be compatible with the original purpose.

4. Cross-border data transfer. While transfers outside India are permitted, they remain subject to conditions prescribed by the government. Drone operators using foreign cloud infrastructure or software platforms should monitor developments in this area.

5. Breach notification. If a personal data breach occurs - such as unauthorized access to KYC documents, contact details, or account credentials - the data fiduciary must promptly notify affected individuals with details about the nature and extent of the breach, its consequences, and the steps being taken in response.

   
   

Enforcement and Penalties

The DPDP Act establishes a penalty framework that can reach up to ₹250 crores for serious violations. Beyond monetary penalties, non-compliance can affect eligibility for government contracts, create civil liability exposure and impact commercial relationships with enterprise clients who will increasingly require vendor compliance with data protection standards.

Practical Considerations

Drone companies should begin by conducting a data inventory to understand what personal data they collect, where it's stored and who has access to it. This exercise typically reveals processing activities that weren't previously considered from a data protection perspective.

Privacy notices and consent mechanisms need to be integrated into customer-facing processes. For delivery operations, this might mean updating terms of service and obtaining consent at the point of order placement. For DaaS platforms, it involves revising user agreements and registration flows.

Technical implementation will vary based on existing infrastructure, but most companies will need to review their data storage practices, implement or enhance encryption, establish access controls, and set up audit logging. Contracts with cloud providers and other data processors should be reviewed to ensure they include appropriate data protection terms.

Finally, companies should establish internal procedures for responding to data principal rights requests and managing potential breaches. The 72-hour breach notification timeline in the DPDP Rules is tight, so having a pre-defined escalation path and response protocol is advisable. For most organizations, this means designating someone as the point of contact for data protection matters and ensuring relevant teams understand their obligations.

Given the implementation timeline is till May, 2027, there is time to develop comprehensive compliance programs, but starting early will allow for iterative implementation and reduce the risk of last-minute gaps. 

This article was first published in the Droneacharya magazine's Oct-Dec, 2025 edition.

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Disclaimer: This publication is intended solely for informational and educational purposes. It summarizes recent legal and policy developments from publicly available sources and does not constitute legal advice, opinion, or endorsement by Sigma Chambers.All Sources are hyperlinked.

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Authors: Abhinav Goyal and Nishika Godha

Readers can direct their queries or comments to the authors.

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