I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 637 
To provide for a legal framework for the operation of public unmanned 
aircraft systems, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 13, 2013 
Mr. POE of Texas (for himself and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide for a legal framework for the operation of public 
unmanned aircraft systems, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving American 
Privacy Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 205 the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(B) a court of general criminal jurisdic-
tion of a State authorized by the law of that 
State to issue search warrants. 
‘‘(2) COVERED INFORMATION.—The term ‘cov-
ered information’ means— 
‘‘(A) information that is reasonably likely 
to enable identification of an individual; or 
‘‘(B) information about an individual’s 
property that is not in plain view. 
‘‘(3) GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY.—The term ‘gov-
ernmental entity’ means a department or agency of 
the United States or any State or political subdivi-
sion thereof. 
‘‘(4) PUBLIC UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.— 
The term ‘public unmanned aircraft system’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 331 of the FAA 
Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 
40101 note). 
‘‘(5) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any 
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory 
or possession of the United States. 
‘‘(6) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The term 
‘unmanned aircraft system’ has the meaning given 
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such term in section 331 of the FAA Modernization 
and Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note). 
‘‘§ 3119b. Use of public unmanned aircraft systems 
‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—A governmental entity shall op-
erate any public unmanned aircraft system only in accord-
ance with this Act. 
‘‘(b) MINIMIZATION.—In operating a public un-
manned aircraft system or disclosing any covered informa-
tion collected by such operation, a governmental entity 
shall minimize, to the maximum extent practicable, the 
collection or disclosure of such covered information. 
‘‘(c) DATA COLLECTION STATEMENT REQUIRED.— 
‘‘(1) Concurrent with an application for a cer-
tificate or license to operate a public unmanned air-
craft system in the national airspace, a govern-
mental entity shall submit to the Attorney General 
a data collection statement, in such form and man-
ner as the Attorney General may by rule require, 
that describes— 
‘‘(A) the purpose for which the public un-
manned aircraft system will be used; 
‘‘(B) whether the public unmanned aircraft 
system is capable of collecting covered informa-
tion; 
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‘‘(C) the length of time for which the col-
lected covered information will be retained; 
‘‘(D) an individual point of contact for cit-
izen feedback; 
‘‘(E) the particular unit of the govern-
mental entity responsible for safe and appro-
priate operation of the public unmanned air-
craft system; 
‘‘(F) the rank and title of the individual 
who may authorize the operation of the public 
unmanned aircraft system; 
‘‘(G) the applicable data minimization poli-
cies barring the collection of covered informa-
tion unrelated to the investigation of crime and 
requiring the destruction of covered information 
that is no longer relevant to the investigation of 
a crime; and 
‘‘(H) the applicable audit and oversight 
procedures that ensure governmental entities 
and those acting on their behalf use the un-
manned aircraft system only as authorized, 
within the scope of the data collection state-
ment, and in compliance with data minimization 
policies. 
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‘‘(2) The applicant is responsible for submitting 
to the Attorney General updates to the data collec-
tion statement. 
‘‘(3) The Attorney General may request that 
the Secretary of Transportation revoke the certifi-
cate or license to operate the public unmanned air-
craft system in the national airspace if the opera-
tor’s activity contravenes the data collection state-
ment disclosures required in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(4) Not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 
issue regulations to establish a database, that is 
publicly accessible via electronic means, indexing the 
certificates or licenses and the associated data collec-
tion statements described in this subsection for pub-
lic unmanned aircraft systems operated within the 
national airspace. 
‘‘§ 3119c. Use of covered information as evidence 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Covered information that a gov-
ernmental entity collects by operation of a public un-
manned aircraft system, and evidence derived from such 
covered information, may not be received as evidence 
against an individual in any trial, hearing, or other pro-
ceeding in or before any court, grand jury, department, 
officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, or 
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other authority of the United States, a State, or a political 
subdivision thereof, unless such operation and collection, 
or disclosure of such covered information is in accordance 
with this Act. 
‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON USE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT 
PURPOSES.—Except as provided in subsection (c), a gov-
ernmental entity may not— 
‘‘(1) operate a public unmanned aircraft system 
for a law enforcement purpose to collect covered in-
formation; or 
‘‘(2) disclose covered information so collected. 
‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.—A governmental entity may oper-
ate a public unmanned aircraft system and may collect 
or disclose covered information acquired by such operation 
for a law enforcement purpose only if such operation, col-
lection, or disclosure is in accordance with any of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) WARRANT.—The operation, collection, or 
disclosure is— 
‘‘(A) pursuant to a warrant issued by a 
court of competent jurisdiction; and 
‘‘(B) not later than 10 days after the exe-
cution of the warrant, the governmental entity 
that sought the warrant serves a copy of the 
warrant on each person on whom covered infor-
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mation was collected, except, if providing such 
notice would seriously jeopardize an ongoing 
criminal or national security investigation, the 
court may delay such notice on request of the 
governmental entity. 
‘‘(2) ORDER.—The operation, collection, or dis-
closure is pursuant to an order that may be lawfully 
issued by a court of competent jurisdiction— 
‘‘(A) based on the allegation by the govern-
mental entity requesting such order of specific 
and articulable facts showing a reasonable sus-
picion of criminal activity and a reasonable 
probability that the operation of a public un-
manned aircraft system will provide evidence of 
such criminal activity; 
‘‘(B) authorizing the operation of a public 
unmanned aircraft system only in a stipulated 
public area for a period of not more than 48 
hours; 
‘‘(C) which may be renewed at the court’s 
discretion for a total period of operation of not 
longer than 30 days; and 
‘‘(D) notice is provided— 
‘‘(i) not later than 10 days after the 
termination of which, by serving a copy on 
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each person on whom covered information 
was collected; or 
‘‘(ii) not less than 48 hours prior to 
such operation, to the public in the stipu-
lated public area, by prominent placement 
of a notification— 
‘‘(I) in a major publication (with 
circulation of more than 1,000 in that 
area); 
‘‘(II) on a public Internet Web 
site of the governmental entity, for 
the duration of the operation; or 
‘‘(III) on public signage in the 
area, for the duration of the oper-
ation. 
‘‘(3) U.S. LAND
BORDER.—The operation is 
within a distance of 25 miles from any external land 
boundary of the United States and is for the pur-
pose of patrolling or securing the border. 
‘‘(4) CONSENT.—The covered information that 
is collected or disclosed pertains to an individual who 
provides prior written consent to such collection or 
disclosure. 
‘‘(5) EMERGENCY.—The operation is— 
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‘‘(A) an investigative or law enforcement 
officer reasonably believes that an emergency 
situation exists that— 
‘‘(i) involves— 
‘‘(I) immediate danger of death 
or serious physical injury to any per-
son; 
‘‘(II) 
conspiratorial 
activities 
threatening the national security in-
terest; or 
‘‘(III) 
conspiratorial 
activities 
characteristic of organized crime; and 
‘‘(ii) requires such operation, collec-
tion, or disclosure before a warrant or 
order authorizing such operation, collec-
tion, or disclosure may, with due diligence, 
be obtained; 
‘‘(B) that officer applies for such a war-
rant or order not later than 48 hours after such 
operation begins; and 
‘‘(C) that operation is terminated imme-
diately on the earlier of when— 
‘‘(i) the information necessary to re-
solve the emergency situation is collected; 
or 
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‘‘(ii) the court denies the application 
for the warrant or order. 
‘‘(6) EFFECT
OF
FAILURE
TO
SECURE
WAR-
RANT OR ORDER.—If a warrant or order described 
in paragraph (5) is denied, then for purposes of sub-
section (b), an operation, collection, or disclosure 
under that paragraph shall not be considered to be 
an operation, collection, or disclosure authorized 
under this subsection. Any covered information so 
collected shall be removed from all databases of the 
governmental entity. 
‘‘§ 3119d. Administrative discipline 
‘‘(a) ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINE.—If a court or 
appropriate department or agency determines that a gov-
ernmental entity has violated any provision of this Act, 
and the court or appropriate department or agency finds 
that the circumstances surrounding the violation raise se-
rious questions about whether or not an officer or em-
ployee of the United States acted intentionally with re-
spect to the violation, the department or agency shall, 
upon receipt of a true and correct copy of a decision or 
findings of the court or appropriate department or agency, 
promptly initiate a proceeding to determine whether dis-
ciplinary action against the officer or employee is war-
ranted. If the head of the department or agency involved 
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determines that disciplinary action is not warranted, such 
head shall notify the Inspector General with jurisdiction 
over the department or agency concerned and shall provide 
the Inspector General with the reasons for such deter-
mination. 
‘‘(b) IMPROPER DISCLOSURE IS VIOLATION.—Any 
willful disclosure or use by an investigative or law enforce-
ment officer or governmental entity of information beyond 
the extent permitted by this Act is a violation of this Act 
for purposes of this section. 
‘‘§ 3119e. Reporting 
‘‘(a) In January of each year, any Federal judge who 
has issued a warrant or order (or an extension thereof) 
under section 3 on operation of public unmanned aircraft 
systems that expired during the preceding year, or who 
has denied approval of such a warrant or order during 
that year, shall report to the Administrative Office of the 
United States Courts— 
‘‘(1) the fact that an order or extension was ap-
plied for; 
‘‘(2) the kind of order or extension applied for; 
‘‘(3) the fact that the order or extension was 
granted as applied for, was modified, or was denied; 
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‘‘(4) the period of collections authorized by the 
order, and the number and duration of any exten-
sions of the order; 
‘‘(5) the offense specified in the order or appli-
cation, or extension of an order; and 
‘‘(6) the identity of the applying agency making 
the application and the rank and title of the person 
authorizing the application. 
‘‘(b) In March of each year the Attorney General, an 
Assistant Attorney General specially designated by the At-
torney General, or the principal prosecuting attorney of 
a State, or the principal prosecuting attorney for any po-
litical subdivision of a State, shall report to the Adminis-
trative Office of the United States Courts— 
‘‘(1) the information required by paragraphs 
(1) through (6) of subsection (a) with respect to 
each application for an order or extension made dur-
ing the preceding calendar year; 
‘‘(2) a general description of all the information 
collected under such order or extension, including— 
‘‘(A) the approximate nature and fre-
quency of incriminating conduct collected; 
‘‘(B) the approximate number of persons 
whose covered information was collected; and 
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‘‘(C) the approximate nature, amount, and 
cost of the manpower and other resources used 
in the collection; 
‘‘(3) the number of arrests resulting from cov-
ered information collected from such order or exten-
sion, and the offenses for which arrests were made; 
‘‘(4) the number of trials resulting from such 
covered information; 
‘‘(5) the number of motions to suppress made 
with respect to such covered information, and the 
number granted or denied; 
‘‘(6) the number of convictions resulting from 
such covered information, and the offenses for which 
the convictions were obtained, and a general assess-
ment of the importance of the information collected; 
and 
‘‘(7) the information required by paragraphs 
(2) through (6) of this subsection with respect to or-
ders or extensions obtained in a preceding calendar 
year. 
‘‘(c) In June of each year the Director of the Admin-
istrative Office of the United States Courts shall transmit 
to the Congress a full and complete report that includes 
a summary and analysis of all information received under 
subsection (a) and (b) during the preceding calendar year. 
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