II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1057 

To prohibit the use of unmanned aircraft systems by private persons to 

conduct surveillance of other private persons, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23, 2013 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit the use of unmanned aircraft systems by private 

persons to conduct surveillance of other private persons, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safeguarding Privacy 

5 and Fostering Aerospace Innovation Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF PRIVACY FROM SURVEILLANCE BY 

7 CIVIL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title 18, United States 

9 Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 13 the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 14—CIVIL UNMANNED 

2 AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘261. Definitions. 

‘‘262. Prohibition on surveillance using civil unmanned aircraft systems. 

‘‘263. Identification of civil unmanned aircraft systems. 

3 ‘‘§ 261. Definitions 

4 ‘‘In this chapter— 

5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘civil unmanned aircraft system’ 

6 means an unmanned aircraft system that is not a 

7 public unmanned aircraft system; 

8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘governmental entity’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) an agency (as defined in section 551 

10 of title 5); 

11 ‘‘(B) an agency of a State; and 

12 ‘‘(C) an agency of a unit of local govern13 ment of a State; 

14 ‘‘(3) the term ‘public unmanned aircraft sys15 tem’ has the meaning given the term in section 331 

16 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 

17 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note); 

18 ‘‘(4) the term ‘State’ means each of the 50 

19 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

20 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 

21 Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana 

22 Islands; 


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1 ‘‘(5) the term ‘surveillance’ means observation 

2 of the activities of a person for the purpose of view3 ing, recording, or monitoring that person; and 

4 ‘‘(6) the term ‘unmanned aircraft system’— 

5 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term in 

6 section 331 of the FAA Modernization and Re7 form Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note); and 

8 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

9 ‘‘(i) an unmanned aircraft system 

10 used in mapping or resource management; 

11 or 

12 ‘‘(ii) a model flying airplane that is 

13 used only for sport or recreational pur14 poses. 

15 ‘‘§ 262. Prohibition on surveillance using civil un16 manned aircraft systems 

17 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

19 person to use a civil unmanned aircraft system to 

20 willfully conduct surveillance of another person (re21 ferred to in this subsection as a ‘targeted person’). 

22 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

23 apply to the use of a civil unmanned aircraft system 

24 to conduct surveillance of a targeted person— 


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1 ‘‘(A) if the person conducting the surveil2 lance obtains the prior express written consent 

3 of the targeted person; 

4 ‘‘(B) in an emergency situation in which 

5 the life of an individual is threatened; or 

6 ‘‘(C) if the targeted person is in a place of 

7 public use (as defined in section 2332f(e)) 

8 where surveillance would not be highly offensive 

9 to a reasonable person. 

10 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates sub11 section (a)— 

12 ‘‘(1) shall be fined not more than $10,000; and 

13 ‘‘(2) in the case of a second or subsequent vio14 lation, shall be fined not more than $15,000. 

15 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.—Any aggrieved party may in a 

16 civil action obtain all appropriate relief to prevent or rem17 edy a violation of subsection (a). 

18 ‘‘§ 263. Identification of civil unmanned aircraft sys19 tems 

20 ‘‘The owner of a civil unmanned aircraft system shall 

21 clearly mark the civil unmanned aircraft system with the 

22 name, address, and telephone number of the owner.’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

24 The table of chapters for part I of title 18, United States 


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1 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

2 chapter 13 the following: 

‘‘14. Civil unmanned aircraft systems ...................................................... 261’’. 

3 SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY. 

4 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

5 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend6 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti7 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 

8 by this Act, and the application of the provisions of such 

9 to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there10 by. 

Æ 


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