Drone Regulations: Proposed Legislation Would Require Warrant For Spying In U.S.

Two Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation Wednesday that would protect the privacy of U.S. citizens from the growing use of drones by government and commercial entities. The bill, dubbed the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, was introduced by Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Congressman Peter Welch of Vermont to install transparency standards for drone usage and privacy protections for individuals. According to the two legislators, the bill will require disclosure for location, flight timing and ownership information of unmanned aerial vehicles. It will also require that any data collected by drones adhere to privacy protections. The bill would require data collected by drones to undergo a minimization process to make sure no unnecessary or excess personally identifying information is gathered.