The FAA is set to loosen rules to let people fly drones beyond their "line of sight. On Thursday, I published a story about the police-tech giant Flock Safety selling its drones to the private sector to track shoplifters. Keith Kauffman, a former police chief who now leads Flock's drone efforts, described the ideal scenario: A security team at a Home Depot, say, launches a drone from the roof that follows shoplifting suspects to their car. The drone tracks their car through the streets, transmitting its live video feed directly to the police. It's a vision that, unsurprisingly, alarms civil liberties advocates. They say it will expand the surveillance state created by police drones, license-plate readers, and other crime tech, which has allowed law enforcement to collect massive amounts of private data without warrants.

An NYPD drone observed four minors, between the ages of 12 and 16 years old, riding on top of a train in the Bronx on Thursday as it passed multiple stations at a high speed. FIRST ON FOX: A new move by Congress would unleash civilian drone use across America's skies by establishing rules to allow them to be flown beyond a user's line of sight and using AI for approval to do so. Her LIFT Act, introduced in the House on Thursday, would require Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to establish set performance and safety standards for BVLOS operations and review current aviation standards, which were designed with manned aircraft in mind. It would also require the Transportation secretary to deploy artificial intelligence to assist with processing waiver applications to allow civilian drones to fly BVLOS. Industry operators have long pushed for new BVLOS policy to replace the current system in which individuals must apply for waivers with the Federal Aviation Adminsitration (FAA) through a costly, cumbersome process to fly beyond the line of sight.

The agency recently granted Amazon's Prime Air program approval to fly drones beyond the visual line of sight from its pilots in parts of Texas. The FAA has also granted similar waivers to hundreds of police departments around the country, which are now able to fly drones miles away, much to the ire of privacy advocates. However, while the FAA doling out more waivers is notable, there's a much bigger change coming in less than a month. It promises to be the most significant drone decision in decades, and one that will decide just how many drones we all can expect to see and hear buzzing above us in the US on a daily basis. By September 16--if the FAA adheres to its deadline--the agency must issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking about whether drones can be flown beyond a visual line of sight.

These developments raise a number of questions: Are drones safe enough to be flown in dense neighborhoods and cities? Is it a violation of people's privacy for police to fly drones overhead at an event or protest? Who decides what level of drone autonomy is acceptable in a war zone? Those questions are no longer hypothetical. Advancements in drone technology and sensors, falling prices, and easing regulations are making drones cheaper, faster, and more capable than ever.

On behalf of the Metropolis of Reno and the Reno Hearth Division (RFD), Iris Automation has been granted approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly a small drone autonomously past the pilot's visible line of sight (BVLOS), with out the help of any observers or further ground-based detection gear. Testing will start over unpopulated areas earlier than shifting to city areas. The BVLOS waiver covers a rural, unpopulated space south of Reno and was submitted by Iris Automation for using its Casia X detect and keep away from resolution. "That is an thrilling venture, working with the BEYOND program and the most recent applied sciences to open the skies each for our group and the broader public," mentioned Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve. "It's a novel teaming of private and non-private pursuits to attain breakthrough operations for a variety of cost-effective, public-facing companies. Autonomous flying will profit each member of our group and drive long run financial advantages together with job creation, value financial savings and extra environment friendly companies. We intend this to be our first of many waivers as a part of this collaboration. We're proud to be main the way in which on this unbelievable area--and with a neighborhood BEYOND participant too--and excited to see our companions shifting to this subsequent step within the course of."

This article is part of the Policing and Technology Project, a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the relationship between law enforcement, police reform, and technology. There's a man pacing back and forth in the grocery store parking lot, evidently agitated, shouting at the sky. On the phone, a police dispatcher reassures you that someone is coming over to help--and so is a drone. Soon, you hear the telltale buzz of a drone overhead. Through its camera, someone is watching the agitated man in the parking lot, feeding information back to emergency services.

You've seen them over sporting events, music festivals and political rallies; aerial drone displays have lit up night skies since the technology's 2012 debut at Ars Electronica Futurelab. No longer a niche entertainment spectacle, these light shows can feature massive swarms that are often presented right alongside traditional fireworks displays. And as small drone technologies continue to advance, these swarms are sure to grow. Drone swarm technology, in varying applications, has been pursued for years by government agencies like DARPA, where it's being investigated for military stuff, as well as private research institutions, such as University of Colorado Boulder where it's being explored as a search and rescue tool. Getting robots to not only sense the others around them but to actively work in concert, in pursuit of a common goal, enables the group to accomplish tasks that no individual could do on their own.

Drone firm Zipline has been given the go-ahead to deliver medical supplies and personal protective equipment to hospitals in North Carolina. The firm will be allowed to use drones on two specified routes after the Federal Aviation Administration granted it an emergency waiver. It is the first time the FAA has allowed beyond-line-of-sight drone deliveries in the US. Experts say the pandemic could help ease some drone-flight regulations. Zipline, which has been negotiating with the FAA, wants to expand to other hospitals and eventually offer deliveries to people's homes.

While drone delivery services are yet to become a practical reality in the consumer world, they're already proving their mettle in terms of crisis response. After deploying its UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) in parts of Africa to facilitate medical care, Californian robotics company Zipline is now using its technology closer to home, to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic in the US. In partnership with Novant Health, Zipline's drones will undertake 32-mile flights on two routes between Novant's emergency drone fulfilment centre in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and its medical center in Huntersville. Each delivery will ferry personal protective gear and medical equipment to frontline healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients. The two companies were already in talks about a potential partnership prior to the coronavirus outbreak, but the escalating situation helped to catalyze the deal.

"It's about saving as many lives as we possibly can," Tim Wood said. Wood spoke to Industrious en route to a meeting with USAID about its Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management project, implemented by Chemonics, a development contractor, and a consortium of partners, including IBM. Getting bed nets, HIV medication and other health supplies from medical storage facilities in Washington DC to remote parts of Africa is no small feat. But Wood, a global supply chain VP at IBM, and his GHSC-PSM consortium partners are doing just that. Global supply chains are crucial to any business or operation.