By John Vibes
The FAA has recently announced that drone owners will now be forced to register their devices with the government and, of course, pay a fee as well. The move has drawn criticism from hobbyists and drone owners throughout the country, who see the registration policy as a violation of their privacy and civil rights.
This week, the privacy concerns surrounding drone registration has grown with the FAA’s admission that the registration information would be available to anyone with an Internet connection. This means that addresses and other sensitive personal information of drone owners would be publicly listed, creating an obvious safety hazard. The FAA says that the names and addresses would not be searchable; however, if you have the number to someone’s drone, you can easily pull up their address and other personal information.
When the registration was first announced, the FAA claimed that the information would be private, stating in their FAQ that,
The FAA will be able to see the data that you enter. The FAA is using a contractor to maintain the website and database, and that contractor also will be able to see the data that you enter. Like the FAA, the contractor is required to comply with strict legal requirements to protect the confidentiality of the personal data you provide. Under certain circumstances, law enforcement officers might also be able to see the data.
However, a line of fine print in the DOT filing admitted that
all records maintained by the FAA in connection with aircraft registered are included in the Aircraft Registry and made available to the public, except email address and credit card information submitted under part 48 [the new model aircraft registry].
The DOT filing also said that searching drone numbers would pull up the rest of the registration information. This way, if a drone was lost and ended up on someone’s property, they would be able to return it to the rightful owner. However, many have pointed out that this system is extremely vulnerable to corruption, and can actually pose a danger for the drone owner.
A journalist with Forbes emailed the FAA for clarification on the change of policy and they responded with a very evasive answer.
All records maintained by the FAA in connection with aircraft registered are included in the Aircraft Registry and made available to the public, except email address and credit card information submitted under part 48 [the new model aircraft registry].
When asked specifically about the DOT filing the FAA spokesperson refused to comment. However, their answer was, at least, clear in the sense that registration numbers will be searchable, making addresses and other sensitive information public.
Drone registry will officially open on December 21st, 2015, and penalties for those who refuse to register will begin on February 19th, 2016.
The Academy of Model Aeronautics announced recently that they will be fighting the registrations, but this seems to be a move that the government is dead set on completing.
Also Read: U.S. Drone Program Seeks Taxpayer Bailout
John Vibes writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com
Is there yet a clear definition of the term “drone” or does that mean any rc plane, heli etc.?
The clear definition is: Shut up, or we’ll put you on the list too.
Fortunately the FAA “list” does not extend into my country. FAA? Thats an American thing right?
I will build my own drone, equipped with a couple of canisters of Sarin and fly it low to my target. I won’t be regisitering it
I’ve no doubt we’ll be seeing terrorist acts committed with drones in the future. I’ll be completely amazed if it doesn’t happen. I would love it if I were completely amazed.
So, if you aren’t doing anything wrong, you don’t have to worry. Except the government has decided that you are doing something wrong, and now they’re gonna track you and report you to the open enternet. And maybe come give you a visit, one you may not even be aware of , you are garanteed to be on a social media watch list, maybe the no fly list, extra scrutiny on many other purches in the future will automatically flag you.
Simple fix. The law requires registration by the owner, not the operator. So spin up an “S” corp and the “S” corp owns the drone. Don’t register it. It you are caught flying an unregistered drone so what, you don’t own it. You are a contracted pilot who has no obligation or liability. Problem solved.
It is an unenforceable law. They don’t have the manpower to verify registrations, do inspections.
Easy, dont register. Done.
That Was Easy.
Big Brothewr ** government ** sticking its nose into an area that needs to be contrllled for pu9blic satey – but – at what price do we gather this information . ///////////////////////////////////
Ask that to all the failed socialist states. This is pretty much how they all start. One “safety” regulation at a time. One new tax or regulation on activity to keep us all safe. One more thing… Oh and another thing… Oh, did we forget about …