VA Becomes 12th State to Sign Drone Regulations Into Law; Law Enforcement Restricted

Ben Graham | May 1, 2015
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The state of Virginia just passed legislation that would require law enforcement agencies to acquire a search warrant before using a drone to track a person of interest. This makes Virginia only the 12th state to sign drone regulations into law. The others being: Alaska, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Most of those states hold similar laws to the one in Virginia and most do allow specific exceptions. Virginia’s exception to the new rule allows warrantless use of a drone for emergencies, such as Amber or Blue Alerts.

(Fun Fact: some of the states mentioned above have barred animal rights advocates, such as PETA, from using drones to monitor hunters, especially those who hunt on private property.)

Virginia's ACLU is quite happy with the new law, saying that it is an “important first step in bringing Virginia’s privacy laws into the 21st Century and ensures that government agencies that violate the new warrant requirement can’t use the data they collect when they do so in criminal or enforcement proceedings against Virginians.”

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