WASHINGTON—Federal officials announced a series of public meetings to hash out privacy issues surrounding both commercial and private drone flight. The multistakeholder meetings, hosted by the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration, will begin next month and continue monthly through November.
“We expect this process to bring together a wide range of stakeholders, including industry, civil society and academia. The group will craft best practices that can help guide commercial and private [unmanned aerial systems] operators,” said Angela Simpson, NTIA’s deputy director of Communications and Information in an accompanying blog post.
Simpson noted that earlier this year, the White House directed the NTIA to “develop best practices that enhance privacy and promote transparent and accountable operation of UAS by commercial and private users.”
She said the 50 comments received on the NTIA UAS transparancy and accountability docket will be the basis of the intitial discussions at these meeting.
The meetings are scheduled for Aug. 3, Sept. 24, Oct. 21 and Nov. 20, in Washington D.C. The NTIA said the meetings will be available via Webcast, and there will be an opportunity for stakeholders viewing the Webcast to participate remotely through a moderated conference bridge. Additional meeting details are available here.
“We expect this process to bring together a wide range of stakeholders, including industry, civil society and academia. The group will craft best practices that can help guide commercial and private UAS operators,” Simpson said.
