A bill has passed through the Texas State Senate that aims to protect the privacy of their residents from the police state by instituting strict limitations on the use of unmanned drones in surveillance by law enforcement.

Dubbed the ‘Texas Privacy Act’, H.B. 912 is an attempt to rein in potential abuses related to the rapidly-developing drone technology that has made its hands into the hands of government at the state and federal levels. The bill was originally authored by Rep. Gooden (R-District 4) and has amassed over 100 co-sponsors since it was introduced Feb. 1, showing vast and bipartisan support for stopping the government’s Orwellian takeover of our skies.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 128-11 on May 10th. (roll call here)  And last Friday the Senate passed a slightly amended version of the bill by a vote of 29-1. (roll call here).  HB912 will now go back to the State House to either concur on the amendments or form a conference committee to approve a final version acceptable to both the House and Senate.  Then it’s off to Governor Perry’s desk for a signature.

BILL INFORMATION

The bill states that “a person commits an offense if the person uses or authorizes the use of an unmanned vehicle or aircraft to capture an image without the express consent of the person who owns or lawfully occupies the real property captured in the image.” The offender would be charged with a Class C misdemeanor if they were caught violating this part of the law.

Data gathered by law enforcement illegally ‘may not be used as evidence in any criminal or juvenile proceeding, civil action, or administrative proceeding’ according to the bill and ‘is not subject to discovery, subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for its release.’ This incentivizes police to not misuse the drone technology unless they wish to risk jeopardizing their entire investigation.

While the bill was written to preserve Constitutional freedoms, it still gives law enforcement the ability to fight crime. The bill specifically permits law enforcement to use evidence collected by drones under certain criteria including if it is ‘pursuant to a valid search or arrest warrant’ or ‘of public real property or a person on that property.’

In addition, the bill was amended from its original version as it made its way through various committees on its way to being passed. It provides exemptions for oil and gas companies to use drones to inspect pipelines and for media sources to cover events such as floods or car chases without being charged criminally. It also allows police to use drones in the case of ‘reasonable suspicion’ which may be a part of the newly-amended bill that can be abused.

Although these additions to the bill may allow law enforcement more leeway to use drones than the original version, it is still a victory to get this through the state legislature as it at least provides some protection for law abiding citizens. H.B. 912 will be sent back to the House where they are expected to concur and then it will be sent to Gov. Perry’s desk from there.

ACTION ITEMS AND TRACKING

If you live in Texas, it is imperative that you contact Gov. Perry’s office and politely request that he do the right thing and sign H.B. 912 to protect the privacy rights of those whose rights he has sworn an oath to protect. The contact information for his office can be found by clicking HERE.

If you do not live in Texas but want to see if your state has similar legislation up for consideration, consult our Legislative Tracker. If your state does not have a bill like this up in your State House or State Senate, please urge your representative to introduce a version of our model legislation – the Privacy Protection Act.

ADDITIONAL READING

While the state Privacy Protection Act applies to state and local law enforcement, and not federal drone us, it’s still a strong step forward to protect against federal plans for drone spying around the country. At this stage in the ‘drone game,’ the feds are relying almost solely to get states and local communities to start drone programs. Federal agencies are working hard behind the scenes to get states to operate the drones for them.

In fact, the primary engine behind the expansion of drone surveillance being carried out by states and local communities is the Federal government itself. Department of Homeland Security issues large grants to local governments so that those agencies can purchase drones. Those grants, in and of themselves, are an unconstitutional expansion of power.

In fact, this has been as much as confirmed by a drone industry lobbyist who testified in opposition to a similar bill in Washington State, saying that such restrictions would be extremely destructive to the drone market and industry.

The goal? Fund a network of drones around the country and put the operational burden on the states. Once they create a web over the whole country, DHS steps in with requests for ‘information sharing.’ Bills like these put a dent in this kind of long-term strategy. Without the states and local communities operating the drones today, it’s going to be nearly impossible for DHS plans to – take off.

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