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Senate committee backs bill creating private remedy for unauthorized drone surveillance, 10-0
Summary
The Senate committee reported House Bill 219 favorably after Representative John Hodgson said the measure would give citizens a path to stop invasive drone surveillance and seek injunctive relief or civil damages.
House Bill 219, which creates a private cause of action and injunctive relief for individuals whose persons or personal property are surveilled without authorization by drones, was reported favorably by the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Development, Tourism and Labor by a 10-0 vote.
Representative John Hodgson, who carried the measure in the House, told the committee that the bill "establishes basic protections for citizens from unauthorized surveillance via drone of their persons and their personal real property and provides a path for injunctive relief and civil action." He said there is currently nothing in drone regulations to prevent a "nosy neighbor or malicious actor" from surveillance and that the bill preserves legitimate commercial and business uses spelled out in the text.
Committee members offered no substantive questions during the presentation; the motion and second were made and the clerk called the roll. Chair Wheeler announced the committee count as "10 to 0" and directed that the bill be reported with a favorable expression.
The bill will now move forward from committee for further consideration by the full Senate.
