Senator introduces "Drone Aircraft Privacy & Transparency Act"

GMack · Mar 16, 2017

Senator Markey & Rep. Welch Introduce Legislation to Ensure Transparency, Privacy for Drone Use

So they want an internet complaint line anyone can log onto about drone fliers and make their addresses known to the public too. I wondered about that FAA letter in the mail I got about being on a list of drone Part 107 people the other day, or to opt out of being listed on it.

Grandpa Don · Mar 16, 2017

GMack said:
Senator Markey & Rep. Welch Introduce Legislation to Ensure Transparency, Privacy for Drone Use

So they want an internet complaint line anyone can log onto about drone fliers and make their addresses known to the public too. I wondered about that FAA letter in the mail I got about being on a list of drone Part 107 people the other day, or to opt out of being listed on it.

What kind of letter did you get? What did it say?

GMack · Mar 16, 2017

Grandpa Don said:
What kind of letter did you get? What did it say?

Basically, it's if you want your name and info on the FAA website where pilots are listed. You can sign it and mail it back to decline, or go online and refuse to be on it publicly. You also have 90 days to decide, or it's automatically put on the public listing. If you have your 107 you'll likely get one soon if you already haven't.

I didn't do anything with it thinking it might be a good idea should I need it for a referral or job reference, but given the way the Mass. senator's drone privacy bill reads, it might not be a good idea as anyone could look up you on the FAA list if they see a drone invading their privacy space and then trace back your flights and their complaints to you should they have any. Even guilty until proven innocent costs money these days. Dunno.

Add, I found the FAA letter and it has this:
Explanation is here: https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/MEDIA/106_SEC_715.PDF
https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/MEDIA/106_SEC_715.PDF
The "opt-out" part is here: Airmen Certification – Change Releaseability Status

microlinux · Mar 16, 2017

What's next, drone patches on our sleeves?

jephoto · Mar 16, 2017

Forehead tattoo....

Meta4 · Mar 17, 2017

They'd be better off handing out free tinfoil hats to those that want them.

Raptorman0909 · Mar 17, 2017

Sounds more like an effort to provide the intelligence community with a direct list of drone owners that they can look at for possible terrorist use of drones. Drones have been used by ISIS and other bad actors and there's a fear that drones could be used to deliver bombs or other nasties and our security types are looking for a more direct list of people to investigate. Please, we're well past the point of viewing statements like this as tin-foil-hat territory and revelations from the likes of Snowden make it clear the principal avenue our security folks are using is ... pervasive spying. Tin-foil-hats not needed.

Brian

M1shootr · Mar 17, 2017

No kidding!

Meta4 · Mar 18, 2017

Raptorman0909 said:
Sounds more like an effort to provide the intelligence community with a direct list of drone owners that they can look at for possible terrorist use of drones.

Really? There are over 600,000 registered drones in the USA.
If you think the authorities are concerned about who is owning drones, you're not wearing the tinfoil hat the right way.

Raptorman0909 · Mar 18, 2017

Meta4 said:
Really? There are over 600,000 registered drones in the USA.
If you think the authorities are concerned about who is owning drones, you're not wearing the tinfoil hat the right way.

Actually, it would be foolish for the homeland security types to not know about drones and understanding who has them would be an obvious aspect of staying on top of it. As I said drones have been used for bad intent by ISIS and others and it's just a matter of time before a plot is uncovered or out into action that involves the use of a drone or drones in a terrorist attack in the USA or west -- not if but when!

Brian

Meta4 · Mar 18, 2017

Raptorman0909 said:
Actually, it would be foolish for the homeland security types to not know about drones and understanding who has them would be an obvious aspect of staying on top of it.

They don't even have any database of gun owners.
Or all registered owners of pressure cookers, mobile phones, cars, trucks, etc, etc.
When you get down to that level, knowing the names of everyone owning something that might be used for evil isn't much help at all.
Particularly when you consider that anyone with evil intent isn't going to register their drone anyway.

Sesmith016 · Mar 18, 2017

This proposed law seems redundant given the fact that what it is requiring already exists in the 4th amendment and state/municipality voyeurism laws.

Raptorman0909 · Mar 18, 2017

Meta4 said:
They don't even have any database of gun owners.
Or all registered owners of pressure cookers, mobile phones, cars, trucks, etc, etc.
When you get down to that level, knowing the names of everyone owning something that might be used for evil isn't much help at all.
Particularly when you consider that anyone with evil intent isn't going to register their drone anyway.

Yeah, I'm not arguing that having such a list may be less useful than they want to think, but the totality of the collection efforts make it clear that they live by the motto 'collect now and ask questions later'. In fact, the NSA's primary slogan is, well read this from Glen Greenwald...

"But that has almost nothing to do with the actual surveillance state created, in the dark, by the U.S. and its four English-speaking surveillance allies (the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand). This actual surveillance system is expressed by the National Security Agency’s (NSA) own slogan which appears repeatedly throughout its own documents: collect it all."

Brian