Drones for security and local authorities in France: the rules

Who it is for

• Security and remote-monitoring companies adding drones to their services in France
• Site directors, security managers and facility managers of French sites commissioning aerial patrols
• Foreign groups with logistics, industrial or construction sites in France
• Professional drone operators answering surveillance requests or French public tenders

What this guide does not do: It does not replace legal advice or a written question to the CNAPS, the CNIL or the préfecture on a specific file · It does not cover police and gendarmerie drones, except to show where private use ends · It does not repeat the common regulatory baseline (categories, training, registration), covered in the complete 2026 guide

Contents of the complete guide

1. Who may do what: the map of players (free extract below)
2. Private security: CNAPS licensing, perimeter and what stays forbidden
3. Setting up a compliant patrol or alarm-verification service
4. Privacy, GDPR and employment law: the file to build
5. Local authorities: uses that work and uses that do not
6. The local authority as client: procurement, specifications and model clauses
7. Night flights, built-up areas and events: the paperwork calendar
8. Worked cases
9. Printable checklists

Included: 33 checklist items and 5 decision or reference tables.

Introduction

This guide is for anyone who wants to use a drone in France to protect a site or to serve a local community: private security firms, managers of industrial and logistics sites, French communes and inter-municipal bodies, and the drone operators working for them. In these two trades the main risk is not aviation risk but legal risk. A flight that is perfectly compliant with the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) can still be unlawful because it films the street, an employee or a resident's garden.

Read it in order the first time. Chapter 1 maps who may do what; chapters 2 to 4 deal with private security; chapters 5 and 6 with local authorities; chapter 7 with the paperwork calendar; then come worked cases and printable checklists. The common baseline (open and specific categories, training, AlphaTango operator registration, prior notification for populated areas) is covered in the complete 2026 guide; we only come back to it where it has a consequence specific to these trades.

If you are used to another European country, be warned: France adds national rules on top of EU regulation 2019/947, and French privacy and private-security law is stricter than in many member states. Assume nothing from your home practice.

This guide is up to date as of 30 September 2026. C-DRONE is not the DGAC, the CNAPS (the French private security regulator), the CNIL (the French data protection authority) or any official body: only published texts (Légifrance, Official Journal of the EU) and decisions of the authorities are binding. Where a point depends on case-by-case assessment, we say so and tell you whom to ask.

Who may do what: the map of players

The most common mistake is to believe that a drone gives its user the powers of whoever commissions it. The opposite is true: a drone adds no rights. A company may not film further with a drone than it could look with a fixed camera, and a French commune does not obtain from the air what the law does not give it on the ground.

The table to keep at hand

The five questions that classify a mission

Before quoting or commissioning, answer yes or no:

1. Is the purpose to protect property (intrusion, theft, damage) rather than to measure or inspect? If yes, the mission is surveillance, and falls under private security law when performed for a third party.
2. Will people be identifiable on the images (faces, number plates, silhouettes, uniforms)? If yes, the GDPR applies from the moment of capture.
3. Does the camera field go beyond the client's premises (street, neighbouring plots, public space)? If yes, narrow the field or give up: no form can fix this.
4. Is the flight at night, in a built-up area or over an assembly of people? If yes, prior formalities with lead times apply (chapter 7).
5. Is the client a public body? If yes, French public procurement law applies and, often, the authority is the data controller.

Three or more "yes" answers: the mission takes several weeks to prepare, with a written file. That is normal in these trades.

The two most expensive mistakes

First: labelling a surveillance mission as "aerial photography" to avoid private security rules. The CNAPS looks at what the company actually does, not at the title of the quote. Second: believing an aviation clearance is a licence to film. A préfecture notification, AlphaTango registration or a DGAC authorisation deal with flight safety, never with the right to capture images of people. These are two separate files, and the second is often the harder one.

Frequently asked questions

How do I receive the guide?

Right after payment you are redirected to the complete guide's page. Bookmark it, or print it to PDF (Ctrl+P or Cmd+P, “Save as PDF”). Stripe also emails you the receipt.

Do I get an invoice?

Yes: Stripe generates the invoice and emails it. You can enter your company name and VAT number at checkout.

Is the guide kept up to date?

Yes. The guide's page is updated when the rules change; your access stays valid and you always read the latest version.

Does this guide replace the official texts or a training course?

No. C-DRONE is neither the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) nor a training organisation: the guide explains and organises the paperwork, with links to the official sources, which alone are authoritative.

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