658
September 2016
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
SECTOR
INSIGHT:
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org
While Part 107 does not address any privacy concerns arising
from the use of sUAS, the FAA is acting to address privacy
considerations in this area. As part of a privacy education
campaign, the FAA will provide all drone users with
recommended privacy guidelines for the UAS registration
process and through the FAA’s B4UFly mobile app. The FAA
also will educate all commercial drone pilots on privacy during
their pilot certification process, and will issue new guidance
to local and state governments on drone privacy issues.
Finally, until the final rule goes into effect, existing Section
333 exemption holders may continue to operate under their
exemptions. After the regulations go into effect, exemption
holders can choose to operate under the new Part 107 or under
their exemption(s). For those who have pending Section 333
exemption applications, the FAA will be dividing them into
the following three categories.
y
y
FAA has stated it will not be taking further action on
Section 333 requests that would otherwise be allowed
under Part 107.
y
y
FAA will move applications that include requests for
exemptions from the matters set forth above regarding
waivers directly into a waiver program without the
applicant taking further action.
y
y
Requests for operations that are not waivable under
the new Part 107 will continue to require a Section 333
exemption, and the FAA will continue to consider the
requests on an individual basis.
Conclusion
The FAA’s release of Part 107 is an important development
in the commercial use of sUAS in the U.S. While regulatory
and technical constraints will still limit the amount of
geospatial data that can be collected, Part 107 will allow
the geospatial community to begin to understand what is
required to integrate sUAS into their existing workflow. As
a result, organizations that have delayed using sUAS due to
uncertainty, or concerns over the costs associated with hiring
a pilot or applying for a Section 333 exemption, should take
another look at the cost/benefit analysis under Part 107.
Those who are familiar with sUAS operations but wish to
operate outside of the Part 107 limitations should consider
seeking a waiver from the FAA once its on-line system is
established.
Kevin D. Pomfret, Esq
. is the founder and Executive
Director of the Centre for Spatial Law and Policy and a
Partner at Williams Mullen.
A note from the UAS Division:
In response to the increasing interest and appli-
cations of UAS technology the ASPRS has created
a new Division – the Unmanned Autonomous
Systems UAS Division (UASD). The UASD focus is
on unmanned aerial, land and water technology
(platforms, sensors, communications), the data
acquired by the technology and the final derived
information and products (including the algo-
rithms). UASD objectives include: outreach and
education, liaising with UAS-interested parties
outside the Society, development and promotion
of standards and best practices, establishment of
calibration and validation sites, and credentialing
and certification activities, among others. The
UASD coordinates its activities with ASPRS
Committees and other technical Divisions that
contribute to the objectives of the Division. The
UASD recently co-sponsored an Interdivisional
committee called “Precision Mapping by UAV.”
The committee’s objective is to provide the neces-
sary technical expertise and tools to the ASPRS
members to help them understand the necessary
workflows, procedures, technologies, quality and
performance capabilities, and processes to do
high precision mapping by UAV. Please contact
Bruce Quirk at
if you’d like addi-
tional information or want to become involved in
the committee or UASD activities.
Bruce K. Quirk, Ph.D.
UAS Liaison
U.S. Geological Survey
THE
IMAGING & GEOSPATIAL
INFORMATION SOCIETY
