Drone Rules: White House Wants To Allow Law Enforcement To Track, Destroy Drones

The Donald Trump administration has asked Congress to give the federal government the ability to track and destroy any type of drone flying on domestic soil, a document obtained by the New York Times reveals. Under the proposal, government agencies and law enforcement would have the ability to monitor and take action against any unmanned aircraft system flying over an area designated for protection. The draft legislation would authorize government agencies to track, take control of and destroy any drone that it determines to be a threat to a "covered facility, location, or installation," which could refer to any number of locations. The proposal would call for the government to respect "privacy, civil rights and civil liberties" when exercising its power to take down drones, but courts would be given no jurisdiction to hear lawsuits filed by drone operators who have their vehicles downed. An exception for drones would be created through the proposal in U.S. hacking and surveillance laws and in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aircraft regulations, which currently protect the unmanned aircraft.