Privacy Best Practices Document for Drone Use Gets Praise From Privacy, Industry Groups

A new voluntary privacy best practices guide for commercial and private drone operators, agreed to by some participants Wednesday through a collaborative NTIA-driven process, is being praised by some organizations (see 1605180044). "This forward-thinking approach facilitates the development of well-informed and thoughtful standards that balance privacy rights with the need to protect US innovation and economic competitiveness," said the Small UAV Coalition in a statement issued after Wednesday's meeting. Chris Calabrese, Center for Democracy and Technology vice president-policy, said in a statement the document has several important elements such as restricting "persistent and continuous" data collection of people and a detailed data collection policy, saying operators can't retain data longer than "reasonably necessary," and requiring drone operators to "minimize operations" over private property without consent of the property owner or legal authority. Participants began meeting in August. While many representatives appeared to support the document, several drone industry, insurance and privacy representatives said Wednesday they didn't for various reasons, saying further meetings wouldn't be productive. “Drones are already being used for search and rescue and to assist farmers, home contractors, photographers, newsgatherers, and may soon be used for wireless internet and delivery. These standards will help ensure these technologies are deployed with privacy in mind," said Future of Privacy Forum CEO Jules Polonetsky in a statement in support. Brian Wynne, CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, said in a statement that the document will help "facilitate the safe and responsible use" of drones. "Rather than create a complicated patchwork of new laws to address privacy, AUVSI encourages states and municipalities to allow commercial operators to adopt these uniform, federal privacy best practices," he said. Angela Simpson, NTIA deputy assistant secretary for communications and information, said in a blog post the voluntary guide will help build consumer trust, give users tools to innovate while respecting privacy and also provide accountability and transparency. NTIA will work with stakeholders to disseminate and promote the practices widely, she said.