Bill Text: HI SB710 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-09 - The committee on PSM deferred the measure. [SB710 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2017-SB710-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
710 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to unmanned aerial vehicles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to establish unmanned aerial vehicle laws to protect personal information and residential privacy that complement federal rules and regulations.
The legislature finds that increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles raises questions of personal information protections and residential privacy. The Federal Aviation Administration released new regulations for small unmanned aircraft on June 21, 2016. The new rule, part 107, addresses the use of commercial, non-hobbyist small unmanned aircraft operations. Part 107 requires an operator to obtain remote pilot airman certification and be at least sixteen years old; limits operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle to daylight-only operations or thirty minutes before sunrise to thirty minutes after sunset, an altitude of four hundred feet, or higher if the drone remains within four hundred feet of a structure, and visibility of three miles; requires the unmanned aerial vehicle to always be within unaided sight of the operator; and prohibits operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle over anyone who is not under a covered structure or inside a covered stationary vehicle and not directly participating in the operation. Recreational use of unmanned aerial vehicles is unaffected by part 107, and under section 336 of the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, P.L. 112-95, section 336(a), an unmanned aerial vehicle that meets the statutory requirements for "model aircraft" is exempt from Federal Aviation Administration rules or regulations.
The legislature further finds that part 107 does not address privacy issues in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and the Federal Aviation Administration does not regulate how unmanned aerial vehicles gather data on people or property.
SECTION 2. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"Chapter
unmanned aerial vehicles
§ -1 Definitions. As used in this chapter:
"Department" means the department of commerce and consumer affairs.
"Director" means the director of commerce and consumer affairs.
"Operator" means any person using or operating an unmanned aerial vehicle.
"Personal information" means all information that:
(1) Describes, locates, or indexes information or data relating to a person, including but not limited to physical location, social security number, driver's license number, government-issued identification number, student identification number, real or personal property holdings identified in tax filings, educational records, financial transactions, medical history, ancestry, religious affiliation, political ideology or affiliation, criminal record, or employment history;
(2) Affords a basis for inferring personal characteristics, such as facial recognition and other biometric identification technology, fingerprints, voiceprints, or photographs; or
(3) Indicates a person's membership in or association with an organization, participation in an activity, or admission or entrance to an institution or facility.
"Unmanned aerial vehicle" means a powered vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, and can be expendable or recoverable.
§ -2 Prohibited acts. (a) No person or public agency shall operate an unmanned aerial vehicle:
(1) In violation of chapter 263 or part 107 or any other applicable federal laws and Federal Aviation Administration regulations relating to the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles;
(2) At a height of less than two hundred fifty feet above a residential property without express permission from the property owner or tenant;
(3) Outside of the period spanning thirty minutes before official sunrise to thirty minutes after official sunset in local time;
(4) Outside the visual line of sight of the operator. The operator shall use natural vision to maintain at all times an unobstructed view of the unmanned aerial vehicle without the use of vision enhancing devices, including but not limited to binoculars, night vision goggles, powered vision magnifying devices, or similar devices; or
(5) To intentionally collect personal information or intentionally publish or distribute personal information acquired through the operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle without express written consent from the individual whose personal information is acquired.
(b) All data and personal information collected through the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle shall not be used or repurposed for any reason other than the original purpose for which the data or personal information was collected.
§ -3 Prohibited uses by law enforcement agencies; exceptions. (a) No law enforcement agency shall use an unmanned aerial vehicle to gather evidence or other information pertaining to criminal conduct or conduct in violation of a statute, ordinance, or administrative rule without first obtaining a warrant.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) and in addition to the authorized activities under section ‑4, a law enforcement agency may deploy an unmanned aerial vehicle for the following purposes:
(1) When there is a reasonable belief that an emergency situation exists, whether or not the situation involves criminal activity, and the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle is necessary to prevent immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person;
(2) To conduct a search and rescue operation where the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle is determined to be necessary to alleviate an immediate danger to any person;
(3) To respond to a hostage situation; or
(4) To conduct training exercises related to any of the purposes in this subsection.
§ -4 Public agency exceptions. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by a public agency:
(1) To conduct environmental or disaster response, including but not limited to disaster relief, victim recovery or search and rescue, and monitoring, inspection, underwater repair, or structural damage assessments;
(2) To dispose of a suspected or actual explosive device;
(3) To monitor plant or animal populations;
(4) To conduct atmospheric testing or monitoring; or
(5) For farming and agricultural uses.
§ -5 Business exceptions. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle by a business or professional licensed in this State, or by an agent, employee, or contractor thereof, if the unmanned aerial vehicle is used only to perform reasonable tasks within the scope of practice or activities permitted under the business or professional license, including but not limited to:
(1) A property appraiser who uses the unmanned aerial vehicle solely for the purpose of assessing property taxes;
(2) A public utility that captures images for:
(A) Operations, inspections, and maintenance of utility facilities;
(B) Assessing vegetation growth or conducting environmental monitoring; or
(C) Utility routing, siting, or permitting for utility construction or provision of service;
(3) Aerial mapping;
(4) Delivery of cargo; or
(5) Capture of images necessary for safe operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle.
§ -6 Civil cause of action; remedies. (a) An individual shall have a civil cause of action against any person that collects, publishes, or distributes the individual's personal information in violation of this chapter.
(b) In any civil action brought under this section, if the court finds a violation, the court may award:
(1) Injunctive relief;
(2) Equitable relief;
(3) Compensatory damages;
(4) Punitive damages, except as prohibited by section 662‑2;
(5) Costs of the action; and
(6) Reasonable attorney's fees."
SECTION 3. Chapter 711, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§711-A Unmanned aerial vehicles; prohibited acts. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly use an unmanned aerial vehicle to record a person in a private place without the consent of the person for the purpose of spying on the person or invading the privacy of another person with an unlawful purpose, under circumstances in which a reasonable person in the private place would not expect to be observed.
(2) Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a petty misdemeanor for a first offense and for a second offense within two months of the first offense.
(3) Any person who commits a third or subsequent offense within two months of a prior offense shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
§711-B Unmanned aerial vehicles; weapons; prohibited. (1) It shall be unlawful for a person or public agency to equip an unmanned aerial vehicle with a weapon or deploy an unmanned aerial vehicle that is equipped with a weapon.
(2) Violation of this section is a misdemeanor.
(3) For the purpose of this section, "weapon" means any device designed to harm or incapacitate a human being by use of a projectile, explosive, biological or chemical agent, electricity, visible or invisible directed energy, radiation, or any other means."
SECTION 4. Section 711-1100, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:
1. By adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read:
""Unmanned aerial vehicle" means a powered vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, and can be expendable or recoverable."
2. By amending the definition of "record" to read:
""Record", for the purposes of
sections 711-1110.9 [and], 711-1111, and 711-A, means to
videotape, film, photograph, or archive electronically or digitally."
SECTION 5. Section 711-1110.9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (1) to read as follows:
"(1) A person commits the offense of violation of privacy in the first degree if, except in the execution of a public duty or as authorized by law:
(a) The person intentionally or knowingly installs or uses, or both, in any private place, without consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy therein, any device, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, for observing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting another person in a stage of undress or sexual activity in that place; or
(b) The person knowingly discloses an image or video of another identifiable person either in the nude, as defined in section 712-1210, or engaging in sexual conduct, as defined in section 712-1210, without the consent of the depicted person, with intent to harm substantially the depicted person with respect to that person's health, safety, business, calling, career, financial condition, reputation, or personal relationships; provided that:
(i) This paragraph shall not apply to images or videos of the depicted person made:
(A) When the person was voluntarily nude in public or voluntarily engaging in sexual conduct in public; or
(B) Pursuant to a voluntary commercial transaction; and
(ii) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to impose liability on a provider of "electronic communication service" or "remote computing service" as those terms are defined in section 803-41, for an image or video disclosed through the electronic communication service or remote computing service by another person."
SECTION 6. Section 711-1111, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (1) to read as follows:
"(1) A person commits the offense of violation of privacy in the second degree if, except in the execution of a public duty or as authorized by law, the person intentionally:
(a) Trespasses on property for the purpose of subjecting anyone to eavesdropping or other surveillance in a private place;
(b) Peers or peeps into a window or other opening of a dwelling or other structure adapted for sojourn or overnight accommodations for the purpose of spying on the occupant thereof or invading the privacy of another person with a lewd or unlawful purpose, under circumstances in which a reasonable person in the dwelling or other structure would not expect to be observed;
(c) Trespasses on property for the sexual gratification of the actor;
(d) Installs or uses, or both, in any private place, without consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy therein, any means or device, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, for observing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting sounds or events in that place other than another person in a stage of undress or sexual activity; provided that this paragraph shall not prohibit a person from making a video or audio recording or taking a photograph of a law enforcement officer while the officer is in the performance of the officer's duties in a public place or under circumstances in which the officer has no reasonable expectation of privacy and the person is not interfering with the officer's ability to maintain safety and control, secure crime scenes and accident sites, protect the integrity and confidentiality of investigations, and protect the public safety and order;
(e) Installs or uses outside a private place any device, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, for hearing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting sounds originating in that place which would not ordinarily be audible or comprehensible outside, without the consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy therein;
(f) Covertly records or broadcasts an image of another person's intimate area underneath clothing, by use of any device, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, and that image is taken while that person is in a public place and without that person's consent;
(g) Intercepts, without the consent of the sender or receiver, a message or photographic image by telephone, telegraph, letter, electronic transmission, or other means of communicating privately; but this paragraph does not apply to:
(i) Overhearing of messages through a regularly installed instrument on a telephone party line or an extension; or
(ii) Interception by the telephone company, electronic mail account provider, or telephone or electronic mail subscriber incident to enforcement of regulations limiting use of the facilities or incident to other operation and use;
(h) Divulges, without the consent of the sender or the receiver, the existence or contents of any message or photographic image by telephone, telegraph, letter, electronic transmission, or other means of communicating privately, if the accused knows that the message or photographic image was unlawfully intercepted or if the accused learned of the message or photographic image in the course of employment with an agency engaged in transmitting it; or
(i) Knowingly possesses materials created under circumstances prohibited in section 711-1110.9."
SECTION 7. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 8. In codifying the new sections added by section 3 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.
SECTION 9. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 10. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; Restrictions on Use; Violation of Privacy
Description:
Establishes restrictions on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. Amends the offenses of violation of privacy in the first and second degrees to specifically address the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the commission of these offenses.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
