US tightens rules on drone use in policy update

When it comes to the issue of managing drones (Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS) the US Department of Justice wants Americans to know it's on the case. In 2015, the DOJ published what was meant to be a comprehensive policy governing how US Government departments and law enforcement use drones to take account issues such as privacy, law and the Constitution. Four years on and things have moved on a bit, prompting tweaks addressing more recent concerns, including misuse, access to airspace, and the cybersecurity of the drones themselves. Large parts of the 2015 policy and its 2019 update sound almost identical. On privacy, both policies limit departments gathering drone data that contains personally identifiable information (PII) to 180 days unless there's a specific reason to keep it longer.