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Kentucky committee advances drone-surveillance protections and approves cleanup to state data-privacy law
Summary
The House committee on Small Business and Information Technology passed House Bill 19, creating civil remedies against unauthorized drone surveillance, and approved House Bill 473, a limited cleanup to last year’s consumer data-privacy law (House Bill 15). Both measures cleared the committee with favorable reports to the full House.
The House Committee on Small Business and Information Technology on Feb. 2025 advanced two bills: House Bill 19, which creates civil protections against unauthorized drone surveillance, and House Bill 473, a technical cleanup to last year’s consumer data-privacy statute.
Representative John Hodgson, sponsor of House Bill 19, told the committee the bill “establishes basic protections for citizens from unauthorized surveillance via drone of their persons in real property and provides a path for injunctive relief and civil action.” Hodgson said current drone rules do not prevent surveillance by “a nosy neighbor or a malicious actor.” The committee adopted a substitute amendment that simplified overly specific language on regulated activities and narrowed who would be subject to civil action before advancing the bill. Representative Tate moved to adopt the substitute; Representative Pfister seconded the motion. A subsequent motion to report House Bill 19 favorably was made by Representative King and seconded by Representative Tate; the committee chair announced the bill passes with a favorable expression and should be sent to the House floor.
Josh Branscomb, sponsor of House Bill 473, described the measure as a “cleanup bill of House Bill 15,” the bipartisan consumer data-privacy law that passed the previous session. Branscomb said the cleanup includes minor wording changes and language from the medical-technology industry to better align Kentucky’s law with similar provisions in other states. Representative King moved approval of House Bill 473; Representative Whitten seconded. The committee reported the bill favorably to the full House.
Votes at a glance - House Bill 19 (drone surveillance): substitute adopted (motion: Rep. Tate; second: Rep. Pfister). Committee motion to report favorably (motion: Rep. King; second: Rep. Tate). Committee announced the bill passes with favorable expression and should be reported to the House floor. Exact roll-call tally is not specified in the transcript excerpts. - House Bill 473 (data privacy cleanup): motion to report favorably (motion: Rep. King; second: Rep. Whitten). Committee announced the bill passes with favorable expression and should be reported to the House floor. Exact roll-call tally is not specified in the transcript excerpts.
The committee session produced little extended debate on either item; sponsors framed both measures as narrowly focused. No statutory citations or specific enforcement provisions beyond the mention of injunctive relief and civil action for House Bill 19 were provided in the committee record excerpt. The measures now move to the full House for further consideration.
