Interior Department Will Ground Chinese-made Drones

The Interior Department announced today it will ban Chinese-made drones for non-emergency use. The Secretary's Order responds to growing concerns that information collected by aerial drones could be "valuable to foreign entities, organizations and governments." In 2012, EPIC and more than 100 experts petitioned the FAA to establish a privacy rule for drones, but the agency failed to act. Last year EPIC's Marc Rotenberg and Len Kennedy cited the FAA's failure, and also warned that China's surveillance model requires "comprehensive privacy legislation to safeguard the personal data of Americans." Senator Chris Murphy [D-CT] and Senator Rick Scott [R-FL] have introduced S. 2502, the American Security Drone Act of 2019 that would prevent federal agencies from purchasing drones manufactured in China.