Unmanned Aircraft Systems in US skies: Addressing privacy concerns

Privacy issues related to the coming integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into US skies are important and entirely addressable, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said recently. A dialogue between UAS operators and the public will enable the creation of regulations that both protect privacy and allow the full promise of UAS in improving and saving lives to come to fruition.

The integration of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) integration into US airspace is seen by many in industry and government as a bright spot for civil aviation’s future. Privacy issues related to the coming integration of UAS into US skies remain important – and entirely addressable, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said at a recent event in Washington, which was sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). (Here’s a story with details of the announcement.)

In announcing a groundbreaking roadmap for UAS integration, Administrator Huerta also outlined a plan for safety recommendations and a set of privacy requirements for the six UAS test sites around the country that will be announced by the end of the year.

The six sites will test UAS use for everything from agriculture to academic research. The test-site operators will be required to publish privacy policies for public comment. The FAA will use the policies – and public response to them – as it creates a UAS regulatory regime between now and 2015.

It’s a reasonable approach, added privacy attorney Jonathan Hart. Rather than legislating all the privacy requirements up front, a dialogue between UAS operators and the public will enable creation of regulations that both protect privacy and allow the full promise of UAS in improving and saving lives to come to fruition. (See this story for details of how UAS can civilians.)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Unmanned Aircraft Systems in US skies: Addressing privacy concerns
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/Security-Voices/2013/1118/Unmanned-Aircraft-Systems-in-US-skies-Addressing-privacy-concerns
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe