The Federal Drone Registry Will Make Your Name and Address Public

You’ll have to mark the registration number on all the drones you own, and carry the certificate (on paper or electronically on your smartphone) when you’re flying the drone. To encourage as many people as possible to register early, the FAA has waived the registration fee through January 20, though.

According to a recent analysis of 921 midair drone sightings by the Center for the Study of the Drone at upstate Bard College, 35.5 percent qualified as close encounters with manned aircraft. Drone owners are required to register basic information including name, address and email address. I don’t want to get hit on the head with a drone!

Hadaway specializes in drones law as a partner at the law firm Diaz, Reus & Targ, LLP in Miami, Florida.

There’s no need to register each drone separately online; actually, the number will be linked in the FAA’s database to the operator rather than to the hardware.

Failure to comply with the rules could result in criminal penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment and/or fines of up to $250,000, or civil penalties up to $27,500.

Brian Wynne, president and CEO of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, said, “AUVSI is pleased that the FAA has moved forward with a final registration rule that will lead to increased accountability across the entire aviation community”. Regulators also urge states and localities to consult with the administration if they’re hoping to pass laws governing altitude or flight path limits for drones, such as an ordinance prohibiting drones flying over a city’s airspace.

The FAA said it wanted the register up and working before Christmas as drones are widely expected to be a popular gift.

According to the FAA’s new rules, all consumer drones weighing between half a pound to 55 pounds must be registered.

The Post-Star website also has a link to a video taken, at least partially with a drone in Granville, at Veteran’s Park, of Christmas lights set to music there.

The FAA’s registry flies in the face of a law passed by Congress in 2012 that bans the agency from regulating all model aircraft (including drones) when they are used for recreational purposes. “We told the people in the UAS Integration Office that we just can’t do that”.

But Whitaker said the registry isn’t regulation and is part of the FAA’s long-standing authority to register aircraft from a Cessna 172 to a Boeing 787.