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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Radio City Music Hall Welcomes Drones to its Stage this Holiday Season

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
One-hundred (100) Intel drones will hit the stage this holiday season at Radio City Music Hall to perform with the Rockettes in the production of the Christmas Spectacular. The Intel Shooting Star mini drones will create a light show using choreographed movements to create holiday-themed silhouettes in a new finale scene called “Christmas Lights.” Executive … Continue Reading

Hartford City Council Proposes to Oversee Law Enforcement Use of Drones

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
In Hartford, Connecticut the police department plans to deploy drones throughout Hartford neighborhoods, however, the Hartford City Council seeks to oversee the use of drones by law enforcement including the type of equipment they use, monitoring of their use and data retention practices. Police Chief David Rosado said, “This ordinance, as currently proposed, would significantly … Continue Reading

Drones in Kenya: Saving Money for Taxpayers

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Power China was hired to complete the construction of about 265 miles of power line within seven months in Kenya after a Spanish utility company, who began the work, went bankrupt. This was a rather large undertaking for Power China given the timeframe. However, that’s where the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones) … Continue Reading

Ford’s Self-Driving Cars to Hit the Roads in D.C.

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Autonomous Vehicles
Last week, Ford Motor Company (Ford) announced its partnership with Washington, D.C.’s city government to start testing self-driving cars in the beginning of 2019. Ford’s self-driving startup business, Argo AI, has already started mapping the city. To date, self-driving cars have only been tested in suburbs and smaller cities. Ford plans to launch its self-driving … Continue Reading

New FAA Operating Restrictions for Drones

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), at the request of the Department of Defense (DOD) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG), issued new drone operating restrictions to address concerns about potentially malicious drone operations over certain high-priority maritime operations. Drones are restricted from flying near U.S. Navy (USN) and USCG vessels operating in the vicinity … Continue Reading

President Trump Signs the FAA Reauthorization Act: What Does it Mean for Drones?

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
On October 5, 2018, President Trump signed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act which establishes new conditions for the recreational use of drones and immediately repealed the Special Rule for Model Aircraft. The FAA is currently evaluating the impact of this change and how the organization will implement these changes. In addition to continuing … Continue Reading

The Reality of Self-Driving Cars and the Regulatory Hurdles

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Autonomous Vehicles
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says in its guidelines for automakers and state regulators regarding autonomous vehicles that “‘automated’ or ‘self-driving’ vehicles are a future technology rather than one that you’ll find in a dealership tomorrow or in the next few years,” because “a variety of technological hurdles have to be cleared, and … Continue Reading

Drone Flights Over Football Fans

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
For the first time in the U.S., a commercial drone equipped with a parachute safety system was permitted to fly over people during a football game in North Dakota last week. A DJI Phantom 4 being controlled by a North Dakota drone operator, Botlink, used a drone safety solutions company’s “SafeAir System” (ParaZero) to conduct … Continue Reading

FAA Issues Guidance on Enforcement for UAS Violators

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Drone pilots who interfere with those fighting wildfires, conducting law enforcement tasks, or other first responders (such as medical flights) are now more likely to face serious civil penalties. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued guidance for agency personnel who handle drone violations to refer all such cases to the FAA’s Chief Counsel’s … Continue Reading

FAA Approves Nine New LAANC Service Providers

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced new partners in its Low Altitude and Notification Capability (LAANC) initiative. LAANC is the system created by the FAA and industry stakeholders that provides near real-time processing of airspace authorizations for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operations under the FAA’s Part 107 regulations. Now, after a five-month onboarding process (which … Continue Reading

New Patent Looks to Blockchain for Drone Security

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Data Security, Digital Assets, Drones, Virtual Currency
According to recent documents made public by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) IBM has applied for a patent for a system that would use distributed ledger technology to address privacy and security concerns associated with the increasing usage of drones in both commercial and recreational applications. In the application for this patent, IBM’s … Continue Reading

FAA’s LANNC: Last Stop, Central North U.S.

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
As of last week, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) is nationwide. We wrote about the FAA’s initiation of LAANC in April, with incremental deployment at air traffic facilities and airports, with the final deployment on September 13 (last week). That last deployment occurred in the Central North region … Continue Reading

Drone Crashes in San Francisco During Building Inspection

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
While inspecting a cracked window at San Francisco’s tilting Millennium Tower, a drone fell from the sky, just missing pedestrians below. The Millennium Tower’s homeowners association hired a drone pilot to take photos of a cracked window. However, during the aerial inspection, the drone lost its satellite signal. Once the signal was lost, the drone … Continue Reading

Why Utility Companies Love Drones

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
It’s true. Utility and power companies really love using drones. While it seems like drones are everywhere now, with trillions of dollars’ worth of industrial infrastructure aging across the country, worker safety and terrorism concerns, climate change putting strain on power grids, manufacturing facilities and oil and gas production, drones offer a cheaper and more … Continue Reading

“Drones are the Next Internet” Says the FAA

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administrator, Dan Elwell, said last week, “Drones are going to do for aviation what the internet did for information,” and called on the industry to work with the FAA to fully integrate drones into the National Airspace System. Elwell made this statement at the InterDrone conference held last week in Las … Continue Reading

Close to 2,000 FAA UAS Waivers in Two Years

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Last week, on the two-year anniversary of the small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) rule (or Part 107), a report was released by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) stating that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted approximately 2,000 waivers since the inception of Part 107. Part 107 sets forth certain parameters and … Continue Reading

FAA Investigates Near Drone-Helicopter Collision

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began investigating a YouTube video that shows a helicopter almost colliding with a drone right off the coast of Hollywood Beach, Florida. In the video, the drone is heading west towards the coast before its camera turns south and the helicopter is seen in the distance; the helicopter … Continue Reading

Kansas DOT Launches First BVLOS Flight in FAA Pilot Program

By Kathryn Rattigan on Posted in Drones
Last week, the Kansas Department of Transportation (DOT), in coordination with 30 other Kansas groups, flew a drone beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) as part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Integration Program (IPP). Kansas-State Polytech Flight Operation Manager Travis Balthazor said, “Currently, we’re restricted to a visual line of … Continue Reading
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