DronesStates move to draft their own drone laws

Octal rotor drone that has a wide range of civilian uses // Source: bigstockphoto.com

Advances in drone technology and drop in prices have led media and other organizations, and even private citizens, to purchase drones to do their own investigations.

Several animal rights groups, for example, announced plans to use drones to monitor farms to see whether they are being cruel to animals.

The Washington Post reports that several states have now drafted their own drone laws. The Idaho legislature passed a drone privacy bill requiring a farmer’s permission before a “farm, dairy, ranch or other agricultural industry” can be monitored by a drone.

Texas governor Rick Perry signed a complicated bill last week, which allows drone use by “a Texas licensed real estate broker in connection with the marketing, sale, or financing of real property.” In addition, oil and gas companies may use drones for “inspecting, maintaining, or repairing pipelines,” and utility companies may use drones for “assessing vegetation growth for the purpose of maintaining clearances on utility easements.”

Margot Kaminski, a scholar at Yale Law School called Texas’ approach to drone use as “kind of a disaster,” and warns that private drone use can lead to First Amendment problems.

“If you have a news organization hovering over a protest and videoing cops beating protesters, that’s really valuable for the First Amendment,” Kaminski told the Post. State courts have determined that private citizens have a First Amendment right to record the activities of public officials, meaning that recording police conduct is protected.

Although Kaminski does not agree with the provisions in the Texas and Idaho bills, she also does not want the federal government to determine what can and cannot be used in a drone bill, saying federal legislation could end up in a poorly crafted law on the entire country.

Illinois governor Pat Quinn has a similar bill on his desk, and if he signs it, Illinois will become the seventh state to pass a drone bill.

Bills in Florida, Montana, Tennessee, and Virginia are focused on drone use by law enforcement, prohibiting images gathered by drones from being used in court or prohibiting public agencies from using drones completely. Idaho and Texas have passed bills that regulate drone use for both the public and private groups.