Kathryn Rattigan

Kathryn Rattigan

Kathryn Rattigan is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Data Privacy and Security Team. She concentrates her practice on privacy and security compliance under both state and federal regulations and advising clients on website and mobile app privacy and security compliance. Kathryn helps clients review, revise and implement necessary policies and procedures under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). She also provides clients with the information needed to effectively and efficiently handle potential and confirmed data breaches while providing insight into federal regulations and requirements for notification and an assessment under state breach notification laws. Prior to joining the firm, Kathryn was an associate at Nixon Peabody. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from Roger Williams University School of Law and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Stonehill College. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Read her full rc.com bio here.

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New Delivery Drone Unveiled

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Last week, Reno, Nevada-based Flirtey introduced its new delivery drone – the Flirtey Eagle. This new drone was created to deliver packages to customers in less than 10 minutes, operate in 95 percent of potential wind speeds and weather conditions, and deliver its contents by lowering a tether while the drone is suspended in air. … Continue Reading

Drone Completes 115-Mile Trial for Offshore Methane Detection

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Last week, British Petroleum’s (BP) North Sea business completed its pilot project to remotely monitor methane emissions of its offshore assets by using an unmanned aerial system (UAS or drone). BP used a fixed-wing UAS with sensor technology originally designed by NASA for the Mars Curiosity Rover. The UAS circled one of BP’s offshore platforms … Continue Reading

$267 Million Judgment Against Debt Collector for TCPA Violations

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Enforcement + Litigation, Websites
On September 10, 2019, California federal judge, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, entered a $267 million judgment against a debt collection agency, Rash Curtis & Associates (Rash Curtis), for its violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for over 534,000 unsolicited robocalls. This judgment comes after a May jury trial in which the … Continue Reading

FAA Demonstrates Successful UAS Traffic Management

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and industry partners in the unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drone) traffic management system pilot successfully demonstrated how multiple drones can function safely in the national airspace. During the demonstrations, conducted at three separate test sites, multiple beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations were conducted at … Continue Reading

FAA Seeks Stakeholder Input on Aeronautical Test for Recreational Operators

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a request for information (RFI) last week asking unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drone) stakeholders for input regarding the creation of a new aeronautical knowledge test for recreational drone operators. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (the Act) requires new conditions to operate recreational small UAS; however, right now, … Continue Reading

Beyond Visual Line of Sight Drone Operations in Kansas

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave the go-ahead for the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) to conduct beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations. The KDOT team, which includes Kansas State University Polytechnic, Westar Energy and Iris Automation,  will fly a nine-mile track to evaluate technologies for power line inspections in rural … Continue Reading

North Dakota Sheriff’s Department to Operate Drones Over People

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Last week, the Burleigh County Sheriff’s Department in North Dakota received a four-year waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drones over people. The Department will routinely conduct drone operations over people for purposes of public safety and monitoring. Currently, the Department has five drones –all equipped with a parachute recovery system. Specifically, … Continue Reading

Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight Drone Operations in Alaska

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
A beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight of a drone traveled along the Trans-Alaska pipeline system (TAPS) this month, led by a team from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration. Operators flew the drone along 3.87 miles of TAPS, using onboard and ground-based detection systems (instead of human observers) to detect and … Continue Reading

Ubers of the Future will Monitor Your Vital Signs

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Autonomous Vehicles
Uber has announced that it is considering developing self-driving cars that monitor passengers’ vital signs by asking the passengers how they feel during the ride, in order to provide a stress-free and satisfying trip. This concept was outlined in a patent filed by the company in July 2019. Uber envisions passengers connecting their own health-monitoring … Continue Reading

New B4UFly App Released by FAA and Kittyhawk

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
At the beginning of 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Kittyhawk, an unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drone) service provider, announced a partnership to update the FAA’s B4UFly app. The newly updated app was released last week for drone operators (both commercial and recreational alike), which now determines in real-time which airspace restrictions are … Continue Reading

$7.75 Million Grant Awarded to Drone Companies for Drone Traffic Management

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Two New York drone companies, AX Enterprize and Thales USA, were awarded a $7.75 million grant from the U.S. Air Force Research Lab to develop state-of-the-art air traffic management (ATM) systems to would allow civilian and military drones to safely coexist alongside manned aircraft in the national airspace. The project and research will be conducted … Continue Reading

FAA Expands Drone Operations for Recreational Operators

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
As of July 23, 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expanded the Low Altitude Authorization and Capability (LAANC) system to include recreational operators. LAANC is a system built as a collaboration between the FAA and industry stakeholders to help expedite the time it takes to receive authorization to fly a drone under 400 feet in … Continue Reading

OSHA’s Drone Initiative

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) drone initiative has taken off. What does that mean for your company? Currently, OSHA can only use drones for inspection activities with permission from employers. However, that could leave you in an uncomfortable position if you deny OSHA’s request to use a drone for its inspection. How should … Continue Reading

UPS Seeks Certification for Drone Delivery Services

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
United Parcel Service of America, Inc. (UPS) is seeking permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate a network of commercial drones for purposes of delivering packages all across the U.S. If UPS’ request for certification is granted by the FAA, UPS could be flying drones over people in populated areas, at night and … Continue Reading

Washington State Increases Drone Fleet to 111 Drones

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Over only a few years’ time, Washington State Patrol (the Patrol) has built a drone fleet of 111 drones. The Patrol says that it uses these small drones for crash investigations and fatality scenes, and not for surveillance purposes. Detective Sergeant Clint Thomas said that roughly 100 state troopers and detective across the state are … Continue Reading

U.S. Interior Approves Use of DJI Drones

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
The U.S. Interior Department (the Interior) authorized government officials to buy drones from DJI Technology (DJI) after a previous warning that the company may act as a channel for Chinese government espionage. However, Mark Bathrick, Director of the Office of Aviation Services, said, “[This authorization is] a very narrow, very specific, very limited authorization. We’re … Continue Reading

Drive.ai Introduces External Communication Panels to Talk to Public

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Autonomous Vehicles
Self-driving cars are inherently presented with a challenge—communicating with their surroundings. However, Drive.ai has attempted to address that challenge by equipping its self-driving cars with external communication panels that convey a variety of messages for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and everyone else on the road. Drive.ai CEO Bijit Halder said, “Our external communication panels are intended … Continue Reading

ULC Model State Drone Legislation to be Discussed

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) is set to meet this week and next in Anchorage, Alaska to discuss and vote on model state legislation concerning drones. The ULC’s proposed legislation is an attempt to recognize the fact that drones can be transformative to search and rescue, inspection and logistics, but that when misused, a drone … Continue Reading

Canada’s New Drone Regulations

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
In Canada, the drone industry has nearly doubled in size every two years over the past decade. With that boom, Canadian regulators have been grappling with many of the same questions that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been struggling with as well — how do you safely incorporate drones into the airspace? To … Continue Reading

Amazon Prime Air’s Drone Design

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, announced Amazon Prime Air, a delivery-by-drone initiative more than five years ago, and last week, Amazon revealed more information about its delivery system–the design. The Amazon delivery drone will use vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology that is aerodynamic and “fully shrouded for safety.” Additionally, the drone features artificial intelligence to … Continue Reading

FAA Grants Waiver for Drone Use Over People

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued Hensel Phelps Construction Co. a Part 107 unmanned aerial system (UAS or drone) waiver to operate a parachute-equipped drone over people. However, the FAA clarified that while it granted the wavier for the use it did not certify or approve the parachute or the parachute system itself. … Continue Reading
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