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THE DRONE FRONTIER

The new Wild West is up above our heads

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Local drone expert KC Sealock

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Posted: Wednesday, July 8, 2015 12:00 pm

by JORDAN FERRELL (mail@folioweekly.com)

Ever since the online one-stop-shop giant Amazon brought up the idea of
drone delivery, there has been a buzz in the air across the country, no pun
intended. While the government has stayed fairly abreast of the rapidly
growing number of hobbyists and commercial businesses using these new
identifiable flying objects, a crackdown is imminent.

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After a 37-2 Senate vote, on May 14 Florida Governor Rick Scott signed off
on Senate Bill 0766. The bill is destined to go into effect on July 1 and,
from the top down, it claims to address the issue of privacy in regard to
unwarranted surveillance. According to many, closer inspection shows the
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bill to be a redefining of when the government can and cannot observe you
in your private place of dwelling. After all, 85 percent of the job of a state

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legislator is to cover his/her ass.

One of the most notable factors of this new Florida law is that private and public parties can now seek civil
action against government agencies and commercial businesses for drone use that violates privacy. Having the
hammer dropped on you by the legal system could be exponentially worse if the court sees your business as a
defector operating without proper Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) exemption.
Critics say this bill is another strong-arm attempt to force non-government, commercial businesses to apply for

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and abide by FAA authorization via Section 333 which grants any civil party the right to operate an
unmanned aircraft system (drones) under precise conditions.

Open Mic

However, KC Sealock, a local drone expert who works for the Jacksonville-based drone superstore, Built Drones,

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believes this legislation is just the natural progression of things. In fact, he says, using drones for espionage is
quite impractical. Sealock thinks there are more pressing threats to privacy.
People make a big deal out of drones and the fact that they have cameras on them, he says. Somebody can
sit in Starbucks with their phone and record in HD and have it uploaded to the Internet in less than a minute

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and you would never know. What we are doing is practically flying electric weed-whackers covered in

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Christmas lights. They are not stealth.

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One has to read Florida Senate Bill 0766 closely to really get a good grip on whats happening up above your
head. Folio Weekly reached out to several commercial drone businesses in the area, but all were unwilling to
comment on the new law, likely for fear of unwanted attention from the FAA.
Two things to keep in mind, though Bill 0766 is NOT completely about your privacy and it does NOT
completely outlaw the use of drones by police, government agencies or commercial businesses with proper

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licensing. What the law does is expand the list of exemptions on when and where the fuzz can exercise the use
of drones on a residential or privately owned real property. Per section 934.50(4)(c), which reads:
If the law enforcement agency possesses reasonable suspicion that, under particular circumstances, swift action is
needed to prevent imminent danger to life or serious damage to property, to forestall the imminent escape of a
suspect or the destruction of evidence, or to achieve purposes including, but not limited to, facilitating the search for
a missing person.

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The reasonable suspicion part likely makes a few people uneasy, and it should.
All of this seems like an overreaction to the public opinion on the word drone, said Sealock when asked what
he thinks created the need for this new law. Its very much focusing on the negative aspects of what could
happen as opposed to the positive aspects of what is possible.
Property appraisers, utility companies (water, gas, electric, etc.), aerial mappers and cargo delivery systems will
also gain immunity to carry on business just as long as that business is licensed by the state. There are certain
state-licensed businesses that will not be granted this privilege, however, such as private investigators or any
other practice that involves obtaining personal information about an entity.
The process of obtaining this Section 333 exemption has not been for those with little patience or novice
experience. And employers are starting to ask for documentation proving liability insurance and Section 333
exemption, which may explain the need for many of these drone blazers mostly involved in aerial
photography to stay tight-lipped on the issue.
The truth is, many of these companies have been waiting for the Section 333 exemption and going on about
their business as they see fit.
The FAA has tried to bring order to the frontier. Up until April 9, 2015, only applicants with private pilot
licenses and third-class medical certificates were allowed to apply for exemption status. Now, a recreational or
sport pilot license will suffice and a valid drivers license will take the place of the medical certificate. FAA
regulations that deal with drone weight and flight trajectory are unwavering, however.
The FAA has also taken into account the technological demand of the public and the freakishly rapid growth of
the industry and employed what is now being called a summary grant process. While the FAA will review each
petition individually, this new process allows it to issue a summary grant for exemptions that closely relate to
previous exemptions already approved. According to the FAA press release, it has found that a majority of the
petitions fall into two categories: film/television production and aerial data collection. The motive behind the
summary grant is to cut down wait times for these commercial businesses.
As the process of gaining this exemption becomes less painful, the reasons to operate outside the lines are
starting to diminish. Regardless of the changes, a long list of petitioners waiting to get the official OK from the
FAA remains.

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