A returning bipartisan bill would put tighter restrictions on how police officers and government agencies can use drones to gather information.
National Journal reports that Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Ted Poe (R- Texas) will reintroduce their Preserving American Privacy Act, which requires warrants to use drone surveillance, with some exceptions. Officers would also have to procure a license from the Justice Department before operating a drone. Information obtained outside these rules would become inadmissible in court.
Drones could still be used without a warrant when within 25 miles of a border or in certain emergency situations.
The bill also bans law enforcement use of drones equipped with firearms, and limits private drone use, blocking individuals from using them to access any views that would normally involve trespassing—perching a drone outside your neighbor’s bathroom window, for example.
“We don’t want to impair the use of technologies, but you also have to respect people’s constitutional rights,” Lofgren told U.S. News & World Report.
“Privacy is a constitutional right and it ought to apply to drones,” said Poe.
The American Civil Liberties Union told National Journal they will “definitely” support the bill.
The FAA proposed its own set of drone regulations this year, mostly concerning safety rules.
