I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6617 
To provide for a legal framework for the operation of public unmanned 
aircraft systems, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 26, 2018 
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 2018’’. 
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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‘‘CHAPTER 205A—USE OF UNMANNED 
AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS 
‘‘3119a. Definitions. 
‘‘3119b. Use of public unmanned aircraft systems. 
‘‘3119c. Use of covered information as evidence. 
‘‘3119d. Administrative discipline. 
‘‘3119e. Reporting. 
‘‘3119f. Private use of unmanned aircraft systems. 
‘‘3119g. Application with other Federal laws. 
‘‘3119h. Ban on weaponization. 
‘‘3119i. Rule of construction regarding State laws on unmanned aircraft system 
usage. 
‘‘§ 3119a. Definitions 
‘‘In this Act: 
‘‘(1) COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION.— 
The term ‘court of competent jurisdiction’ in-
cludes— 
‘‘(A) any district court of the United 
States (including a magistrate judge of such a 
court) or any United States court of appeals 
that— 
‘‘(i) has jurisdiction over the offense 
being investigated; 
‘‘(ii) is in a district in which the pub-
lic unmanned aircraft system is located or 
where the public unmanned aircraft system 
is being or sought to be operated; or 
‘‘(iii) is acting on a request for foreign 
assistance pursuant to section 3512 of title 
18, United States Code; or 
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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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