Welch proposes regulations for private unmanned drones

by Alicia Freese

BURLINGTON — The aircraft on the minds of most Chittenden County residents is the F-35, a cutting-edge fighter jet that might end up at the Burlington International Airport. Rep. Peter Welch was on the steps of the Chittenden County Courthouse on Friday to talk about a different, markedly smaller flying device — unmanned drones.

Welch has drafted a bill to regulate the machines. He’s not the first — legislation has been introduced at the federal level and in 42 state legislatures, according to the ACLU, to preempt the proliferation of unmanned aircraft that’s expected to occur. (The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has jurisdiction over the drones, predicts there will be 30,000 congesting the skies by 2030.)

But Welch says the legislation that’s surfaced at the federal level has focused on regulating drones as law enforcement tools, whereas his bill tackles private drone activity as well.

Welch was joined on the courthouse steps by Allen Gilbert, executive director the Vermont ACLU. Gilbert also backed a bill introduced in the Vermont Legislature last spring, that would require law enforcement to obtain a warrant before deploying drones, except in cases where there’s an imminent risk or as part of a search and rescue operation. That legislation, filed late in the session, is still in committee.

Welch’s bill contains the same warrant requirement, and it also asks law enforcement agencies to also submit a “data minimization statement,” showing that they’ll be selective with the data they collect.

What’s new about Welch’s approach is it requires private drone owners to submit information to the FAA in order to fly their crafts. To get a license, they have to tell the FAA who will operate the drone, where it will be flown, what type of data will be collected, why it’s being collected and how long it will be kept on hand. All of that information would be published online.

According to Welch, those requirements aren’t all that onerous. “In a way that’s similar to an airline providing information about a flight path,” Welch said. “This is not a burden. It’s going to focus attention on the fact that using drones can be an encroachment on privacy rights.” Private drone owners already need a license to fly their craft.

The goal, Welch said is “to make certain that, as we get this new technology that has the capacity to do good, that it does not compromise the privacy rights that Vermonters and American citizens have. And what we face with the explosion of technology in this world is the challenge of modernizing laws and regulations to make certain our constitutional right to privacy continues to be respected.”

If a drone owner does overstep privacy bounds, Welch’s bill leaves it up to the FTC, states’ attorney generals, and citizens to bring them to court. Asked whether or not the FTC was up to the task of enforcing proper drone activity, Welch said he wasn’t sure.

“It’s not clear. There’s such an assault on all of government agencies and their personnel.” Welch said that’s why he’s hoping attorney generals and individuals will step up to the plate, but he also acknowledged that citizens might not be keyed into privacy intrusions when they take place.

Welch didn’t know whether private drones had made their way into Vermont yet, but Gilbert jumped in, holding up photographic evidence. The photo, which appeared in the Business section of the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus on June 17 shows two Fayston residents posing with a “remote-controlled quad copter” they use for their aerial photography business.

“This is how drones will come in. there will be two guys who get what looks like a hobby version of some sort of flying aircraft … and they are going to start using it for all sorts of things.” Addressing the reporters in the audience, Gilbert said, “Within a year or two most of you will probably work at places where there are drones.”

In fact, one TV station, WCAX, already has one. But, it’s sitting in a box. Meredith Neary, programming and public service producer for WCAX, explained that they made an “impulse buy” at a trade show a few years ago, but the device, which cost between $500 and $1,000, broke on its maiden flight. It’s since been repaired but for now, WCAX is sticking with its bucket truck to take high-up photos. “We bought it, played around with it once, broke it, fixed it and put it in a box,” Neary said.

– See more at: http://vtdigger.org/2013/07/12/welch-proposes-regulations-for-private-unmanned-drones/#sthash.LRgT4NPH.dpuf