User Posts Report Of Problem On Drone Message Board

Shades of healthcare.gov. One of the first people to register their UAV on the FAA's website which went live Monday was emailed someone else's registration information.

Posting on the UAV community message board DIY Drones, user Phillip Kocmoud wrote "I just registered @ https://registermyuas.faa.gov;. Upon completing and hitting submit, I was emailed someone else's registration. When I login, I am presented with someone's complete information. Sorry, Justin, maybe you got mine..."

Another user, Philip Giacalone, posted that he had seen similar problems caused by a "middleware bug" that can allow such mix ups. Such problems can be caused when developers do not test under a multi-user scenario in a way that matches how the site will actually be used.

The upshot is that the FAA got Kocmoud's and Justin Lyon's information mixed up, and if the problem occurred once, it likely occurred many, many times as the site was besieged with people trying to get registered and comply with the rule. That means that the FAA's registration database is pretty much worthless, as there is no way to know if the information is accurate. So if you registered your UAV on day one, be sure to check that registration certificate carefully as you might have gotten one that should have gone to someone else.

Meanwhile, Forbes contributor John Goglia updated his piece from Monday to indicate that the FAA has corrected its guidance to law enforcement to show the correct date for compliance for hobby users who owned their aircraft prior to December 21, 2015 as February 19, 2016. But, he says, the guidance still cites the wrong regulation that allows law enforcement to request registration information.

FMI: www.faa.gov