In a previous post, we discussed the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) proposed drone regulations, and now, on August 3, 2015, the first drone privacy stakeholder meeting ensued in Washington, D.C., led by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). NTIA director, John Verdi, told media that the goal of this first meeting was to develop working methods, set their priorities, and decide upon the structure of the meetings moving forward.
The NTIA Deputy Assistant Secretary, Angela Simpson, said that the NTIA’s underlying goal is to help stakeholders prepare a set of guidelines for drone use, but not impose the guidelines on drone users. Simpson said, “We are not regulators. We are not developing rules or bringing enforcement actions.”
So if the NTIA is not going to enforce any kind of drone privacy regulations who is? Well, a Department of Transportation (DOT) representative told the media that neither the FAA or the DOT has any statutory oversight of privacy. This means that neither the FAA or the DOT will be enforcing the best practices that are established by these drone privacy stakeholders. Essentially, any best practices that stem from these meetings will be used as a “guide” only. With the increased use of drone technology on many fronts, the potential for privacy violations will also increase. For now, the tentative drone privacy stakeholder meetings scheduled for the rest of this year are on September 24th, October 21st, and November 20th. We will keep you posted on any news that comes from this group.