Recent Press Release Contradicts Earlier Statements

The FAA may actually be releasing the names and addresses of people who have registered their UAVs on their database, including children as young as 13 years old, according to analyst John Goglia.

Writing for Forbes, Goglia says that while the FAA said in a news release last week that it would not be posting those names and addresses, it said otherwise in December in its FAQ about the drone registry.

The news release states: "The FAA is not posting the names and street addresses of registered owners because the data is exempt from disclosure under a FOIA exemption that protects information in agency files from a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The FAA based its determination to post only city, state and zip code on several factors, including, in part, that many of the registrants are minors and only hobbyists or recreational users.  In addition, when the FAA published its Federal Register notice pertaining to the new unmanned aircraft registration system it specifically advised the public that name and addresses would only be available by the registration number issued to the registrant. For these reasons, the FAA believes the privacy interest in such data outweighs any public interest."

However, when contacted by Goglia in December, the FAA said that the information would be accessible online by registration number, which is required to be attached to the aircraft.

So the question of whether such information will be publically available is still open. Time, apparently, will tell which statement is accurate.

(Image from file)

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