Says Advanced Rulemaking 'Completely Ignores' Privacy Concerns

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed suit in the federal appeals court in Washington, DC arguing that the FAA failed to establish privacy rules for commercial drones as mandated by Congress.

Congress had required the FAA to develop a "comprehensive plan" for drone deployment. In 2012 EPIC and more than 100 organizations and experts also urged the federal agency to establish privacy protections prior to the deployment of commercial drones in the United States. The FAA denied the EPIC petition, claiming it "did not raise an immediate safety concern."

EPIC says in its suit that the FAA's rulemaking unveiled last month purposefully ignored privacy concerns, stating that privacy "issues are beyond the scope of this rulemaking."

In its filing, EPIC says asks for a review of the FAA's denial of its 2012 petition, and asks that the court "hold unlawful the FAA's withholding of proposed drone privacy rules, which Congress required the agency to issue under the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012."

FMI: https://epic.org