In Spring this year, the Brussels Capital-Ixelles police zone conducted 144 surveillance drone flights, operated by a private company - an operation later deemed illegal by the Police Information Monitoring Body Le Soir reports.
The drones were flown between April and June 2025 as part of a pilot project led by the Brussels Capital-Ixelles police zone. A Flemish private company, Citymesh, was responsible for operating the drones.
The initiative was criticised by the Human Rights League, which challenged the authorisation for the flights in front of the Council of State.
Before the Council of State could rule on the matter, the Police Information Monitoring Body (COC) informed the police zone in October that the project was considered illegal. This was due to concerns over police data potentially being handled by a private company.
The police zone stated that the three-month testing phase had already concluded by the time it received the COC’s opinion. It also asserted that no data collection or processing took place during the 144 flights.
The COC’s report has been sent to the Brussels public prosecutor’s office and the Ministers for Interior and Justice. The report is expected to be made public soon to provide guidelines for other police zones, Le Soir reported.
