Two-Hour Availability Will Give The Public An Opportunity To Comment On The Proposed Policy

The FAA will hold an online public engagement session on Wednesday, April 3 from 12 noon to 2 p.m. EDT to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on the agency's proposed privacy policy for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The FAA will provide a brief overview of the UAS test site program and proposed privacy policy and then take comments from participants. Each participant will have three minutes for comments. The FAA encourages the public to provide comments to the docket. The FAA will listen and record all comments, but will not answer any questions during the session.

Under the FAA privacy proposal each test site operator must ensure that its privacy policies are informed by Fair Information Practice Principles, a widely accepted framework of privacy principles at the core of numerous federal and state privacy laws.

Each site operator and its team members will be required to operate in accordance with federal, state and other laws regarding the protection of an individual’s right to privacy. If the U.S. Department of Justice or a state’s law enforcement authority files criminal or civil charges over a potential violation of such laws, the FAA may take appropriate action, including suspending or modifying the agreement authorizing test site operations until the privacy proceedings are completed. If the proceedings demonstrate the operation was in violation of the law, the FAA may terminate the operating agreement.

Prior to the close of the Federal Register comment period, the FAA will host an online listening session to solicit additional comments on the proposed privacy approach. The agency will publish a notice providing details for the listening session sufficiently in advance with full details.

The request for comments on the proposed UAS test site privacy approach, including instructions for filing comments, will be published in the Federal Register and the public will have 60 days to comment. The FAA will post all comments it receives, without change, including any personal information the commenter provides.

The FAA is expected to announce the six test sites later this year.
 
The FAA anticipates that test site operator privacy practices will help inform the dialogue among policymakers, privacy advocates, and the industry on broader questions about the use of UAS technologies. The privacy requirements the FAA has proposed are specifically designed for the operation of the UAS test sites. They are not intended to pre-determine the long-term policy and regulatory framework under which commercial UASs would operate. Rather, they aim to assure maximum transparency of privacy policies associated with UAS test site operations in order to engage all stakeholders in discussion about which privacy issues are raised by UAS operations and how law, public policy, and the industry practices should respond to those issues in the long run.

FMI: Register Online, www.faa.gov