• Information describing practices in responding to law enforcement requests.
Operators and service providers should note that their efforts to provide notice may differ by industry – real estate professionals should anticipate contacting neighbors of the property to be filmed.
Second, the NTIA advises operators to take care both when operating the UAS and when collecting and storing covered data. Unless there is a compelling need, UAS operators should not use “UAS for the specific purpose of intentionally collecting covered data where the operator knows the data subject has a reasonable expectation of privacy” – whether it is a one time use or whether it is for “persistent and continuous” data collection. Additionally, “UAS operators should make a reasonable effort to minimize UAS operations over or within private property without consent of the property owner or without appropriate legal authority,” and additionally, operators should “avoid knowingly retaining covered data longer than reasonably necessary,” unless the data subject consents or there are exceptional circumstances, such as “legal disputes or safety incidents.” The NTIA also advises that operators establish a process for receiving privacy and security concerns, including requests to delete data. Third and finally, the NTIA’s best practices advise operators to limit the use and sharing of covered data. The document advises operators to obtain consent to use covered data for “employment eligibility, promotion or retention; credit eligibility; or healthcare treatment, and advises against using or sharing covered data in ways that are not included in the privacy policy. Prior to disclosing covered data to the public, UAS operators should ‘black out’ any identifying information, unless the data subjects have consented to the release. Although the NITA encourages UAS operators to avoid using covered data for marketing purposes without obtaining consent, it does not suggest restriction on using or sharing aggregated covered data for broader marketing campaigns.
So far, the privacy issue has gotten the most publicity, but in the long run the Big Data issues may be more important. Both long-standing companies looking to enter the UAS market and new organizations starting out should create and implement policies that cover the concerns listed above. If you do not have the internal capabilities to put together these policies, consider retaining outside help from an attorney who is well-versed in these matters. Doing so will not only help business grow, it will set these companies apart from their competition.