DC court rules in favor of FAA’s Remote ID rule for drones

A US Appeals Court on Friday affirmed the Remote ID rules for drones set by the FAA. Denying a petition by a drone user who said Remote ID would invite “warrantless governmental surveillance in violation of the Fourth Amendment,” a three-judge panel in Washington, DC, ruled that requiring a drone to show its location and that of its operator while the aircraft is airborne “violates no reasonable expectation of privacy.”

Remote ID refers to the ability of a drone in flight to provide identification and location information that can be received by people within the range of local radio signals. The FAA likens it to a “digital license plate” for a drone.

FAA asserts that Remote ID will help law enforcement and other federal agencies find the control station when a drone appears to be flying in an unsafe manner or where it is not allowed to fly. Remote ID will also lay the foundation of the safety and security groundwork needed for more complex drone…