Bill Text: NY S06435 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Establishes the "protect our privacy (POP) act" to impose limitations on the use of drones for law enforcement purposes; prohibits the use of drones by law enforcement at concerts, protests, demonstrations, or other actions protected by the first amendment and requires a search warrant prior to using a drone for law enforcement purposes.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-17 - PRINT NUMBER 6435B [S06435 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S06435-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6435--B 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE June 11, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. RAMOS, COMRIE, GOUNARDES, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, LIU, MONTGOMERY, MYRIE, RIVERA, SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules -- commit- tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom- mitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Codes in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to imposing limita- tions on the use of drones for law enforcement purposes The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "protect 2 our privacy (POP) act". 3 § 2. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 52-c to 4 read as follows: 5 § 52-c. Limitations on the use of drones; law enforcement purposes. 1. 6 The use of drones to observe, monitor, document, record, investigate, or 7 collect data by law enforcement at concerts, protests, demonstrations, 8 or other actions protected by the first amendment to the United States 9 Constitution or sections eight and nine of article one of the state 10 constitution is prohibited. 11 2. People have a reasonable expectation of privacy and a constitu- 12 tional right to be free from warrantless observation, monitoring, 13 documentation, recording, or investigation by a drone. A search 14 warrant, issued upon a finding of probable cause, shall be required for 15 any use of drones for law enforcement purposes that is not specifically 16 prohibited by subdivision one of this section. A search warrant cannot 17 permit the use of drones for the purposeful or incidental observation, 18 documentation, recording, investigation, or collection of data by law 19 enforcement at concerts, protests, demonstrations, or other actions EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10012-07-0S. 6435--B 2 1 protected by the first amendment to the United States Constitution or 2 sections eight and nine of article one of the state constitution. 3 3. The use for law enforcement purposes of any drone owned, 4 controlled, or maintained by a private company, private individual, or 5 other government agency shall be subject to the provisions of subdivi- 6 sions one and two of this section. A search warrant, issued upon a find- 7 ing of probable cause, shall be required for law enforcement to obtain 8 any data or information obtained by a drone that is owned, controlled, 9 or maintained by a private company, private individual, or other govern- 10 ment agency. A search warrant cannot authorize obtaining any data or 11 information relating to the purposeful or incidental observation, 12 documentation, recording, investigation, or collection of data at 13 concerts, protests, demonstrations, or other actions protected by the 14 first amendment to the United States Constitution or sections eight and 15 nine of article one of the state constitution except in the investi- 16 gation or prosecution for violations of subdivisions one or two of this 17 section. 18 4. Law enforcement is prohibited from using drones equipped with 19 facial recognition software or using facial recognition on video or 20 images obtained or created by a drone, including videos or images 21 obtained or created by drones owned, controlled, or maintained by a 22 private company, a private individual, or other government agency. This 23 section shall retroactively apply to videos or images obtained or 24 created by drones prior to the effective date of this section. 25 5. Drones equipped with devices used for crowd control purposes or any 26 lethal or non-lethal weapons are prohibited. 27 6. Data or information obtained by drones and within the control of 28 any government agency or in the possession of a private company or indi- 29 vidual on behalf of any government agency shall be subject to release 30 under the freedom of information law, provided that all personal identi- 31 fying information, except for that of law enforcement personnel acting 32 within their official responsibilities or performing an official func- 33 tion, shall be redacted prior to such release. 34 7. All data or information obtained by the use of drones for law 35 enforcement purposes that are not part of an ongoing criminal investi- 36 gation or proceeding shall be destroyed in one year or less, absent a 37 subpoena or court order. Data or information not destroyed in one year 38 or less pursuant to a subpoena or court order and that is within the 39 control of any government agency or in the possession of a private 40 company or individual on behalf of any government agency shall be 41 destroyed once the proceedings or investigations that the subpoena or 42 court order related to have ended. 43 8. As used in this section: 44 a. "Drone" means an aerial vehicle or a balloon float or other device 45 that can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely. 46 b. "Law enforcement" means a lawfully established state or local 47 public agency that is responsible for the prevention and detection of 48 crime, the enforcement of local government codes and the enforcement of 49 penal, traffic, regulatory, game or controlled substance laws and 50 includes an agent of the law enforcement agency. 51 c. "Search warrant" means a search warrant as defined in section 52 690.05 of the criminal procedure law. 53 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
