Design The Sky, LLC Announces Support of RaceDayQuads in Lawsuit Against FAA

Design The Sky, LLC would like to announce their support of RaceDayQuads in their lawsuit against the FAA’s new Remote ID rule in the current court case RaceDayQuads v. FAA. We believe the Remote ID rule will adversely affect the drone industry and raises privacy concerns for drone operators, whether they are flying commercially or recreationally on their own property.

What is Remote ID?

Remote ID is the ability of a drone to broadcast identification and location. The new rule would require drone manufacturers to update their products with this technology by Sept 2022. Any drone pilot, whether flying for fun or for business, would be required to either purchase a new drone that includes the technology or retrofit their current drone with a broadcast module by Sept 2023. Anyone who is unable to meet these requirements, would only be permitted to fly in special areas designated by the FAA known as FRIAs.

What Challenges Does This Pose for the Drone Industry?

The drone community in general opposes this rule. The most immediate effect is that current drone operators could be required to incur substantial upfront cost to update their equipment and may have limited drone manufacturers to choose from. The main arguments of the lawsuit focus on the fact that the data transmitted is available publicly and accessible by both the FAA and law enforcement. RaceDayQuads argues that this violates the 4th Amendment as location and personal identification data would be transmitted whether the drone is in public airspace or on an individual’s private property. 

The lawsuit also argues that First and Fifth Amendment rights are being violated by the FRIA requirement - creating  a forced association with a private, dues-collecting organization to exercise privilege in the public airspace.

Where Can You Learn More?

Forbes recently published this article highlighting the case. You can also follow RaceDayQuads to stay up to date and donate directly to their legal battle here: www.racedayquads.com/pages/faa-legal-battle-to-save-fpv

Design The Sky, LLC is co-owned by Sara E. Jones and Jeremiah Little. Design The Sky focuses on drone video and 360 virtual tours for the construction, real estate and property management industries. Their affiliated company, RadBot Video is a video production agency that focuses on creative visual storytelling for businesses.