Florida UAV Bill Would Make Most Unmanned Aircraft Photography Illegal | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.10.24

Airborne-NextGen-06.11.24

Airborne-Unlimited-06.12.24 Airborne-FltTraining-06.13.24

Airborne-Unlimited-06.14.24

Thu, Apr 30, 2015

Florida UAV Bill Would Make Most Unmanned Aircraft Photography Illegal

But No Criminal Penalties Are Included In The Measure

A bill heading to the desk of Florida Governor Rick Scott would make it illegal to use a UAV to capture images of "privately owned real property or of the owner, tenant, or occupant of such property with the intent to conduct surveillance without his or her written consent if a reasonable expectation of privacy exists."

The bill applies to individuals, government agencies including law enforcement.

There are exceptions to the prohibition, including a credible threat of a terrorist attack. Law enforcement agencies may use the aircraft to capture images if they first obtain a search warrant, or a reasonable suspicion on the part of law enforcement requires "swift action" to "prevent imminent danger to life or serious damage to property,  to forestall the imminent escape of a suspect or the destruction of evidence, or to achieve purposes including, but not limited to, facilitating the search for a missing person."

The bill does not provide for criminal penalties, but rather pushes complaints to civil courts. "An aggrieved party may initiate a civil action against a law enforcement agency to obtain all appropriate relief in order to prevent or remedy a violation of this act.

"The owner, tenant, or occupant of privately owned or occupied real property may initiate a civil action for compensatory damages ... and may seek injunctive relief to prevent future violations ... against a person, state agency, or political subdivision. In such action, the prevailing party is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees from the nonprevailing party based on the actual and reasonable time expended by his or her attorney billed at an appropriate hourly rate and, in cases in which the payment of such a fee is contingent on the outcome, without a multiplier, unless the action is tried to verdict, in which case a multiplier of up to twice the actual value of the time expended may be awarded in the discretion of the trial court.

"Punitive damages under this section may be sought against a person subject to other requirements and limitations of law, including, but not limited to, part II of chapter 768 and case law."

Governor Rick Scott has not said whether he will sign or veto the bill. If he does neither, the bill would become law within seven days of being placed on his desk, which means if he does not veto the bill, it will become law in Florida.

(Image from file)

FMI: Bill Text, www.lobbytools.com/blogs/rules/rules-governors-bill-actions
 

Advertisement

More News

ANN FAQ: Submit a News Story!

Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (06.12.24)

“The legislation now includes a task force with industry representation ensuring that we have a seat at the table and our voice will be heard as conversations about the futur>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.12.24)

Aero Linx: Waco Museum The WACO Historical Society, in addition to preserving aviation's past, is also dedicated and actively works to nurture aviation's future through its Learnin>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (06.12.24): Adcock Range

Adcock Range National low-frequency radio navigation system (c.1930-c.1950) replaced by an omnirange (VOR) system. It consisted of four segmented quadrants broadcasting Morse Code >[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 06.06.24: 200th ALTO, Rotax SB, Risen 916iSV

Also: uAvionix AV-Link, Does Simming Make Better Pilots?, World Games, AMA National Fun Fly Czech sportplane manufacturer Direct Fly has finished delivering its 200th ALTO NG, the >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC