NTIA Releases Draft Privacy Best Practices Guide for Drone Users

NTIA Friday released a draft privacy best practices guide for drone users that appears to have the support of several civil liberties and industry stakeholders. The seven-page document, which emerged after numerous meetings among a wide range of stakeholders since last summer, will be discussed at a May 18 meeting, said the agency, which has only facilitated such meetings, in an email to participants. NTIA’s email said Amazon, the Center for Democracy and Technology, CTA and New America’s Open Technology Institute are among 11 stakeholders that support the draft. NTIA canceled an April 8 meeting to give several participants more time to work on the nonbinding guide (see 1604050027). The document outlines what private and commercial operators should do to inform the public about the potential collection, use, storage and sharing of data collected by their drones. It also says operators should monitor and adhere to changing federal, state and local laws about drone use and privacy and security matters. A small section says the best practices won’t apply to news agencies that use drones since they would be protected under the First Amendment. “These proposed draft principles recognize the value of drones for beneficial purposes, but also address in a practical way the privacy concerns they raise,” said Future of Privacy Forum CEO Jules Polonetsky, a participant, in a statement. “Much careful negotiation and compromise went into ensuring privacy issues could be addressed in a way that is practical, so operators both large and small can comply.” The May 18 meeting will be 2-5 p.m. at the American Institute of Architects boardroom, 1735 New York Ave., NW.