Should kids be on social media? At what age? Should parents monitor their conversations on those platforms? Do parental controls work? These are questions facing many parents and guardians, especially with the increasing use of social media platforms by kids and teens. The Pew Research Center reported that 58% of teens are daily users of

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) has not been updated in over 30 years. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been asked by Congress to take “decisive action in addressing the escalating issue of fraudulent and scam text messages that target American consumers.” The TCPA restricts the hours in which telemarketers can call, prevents businesses

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) have made a breakthrough by agreeing on a bipartisan data privacy legislation proposal. The legislation aims to address concerns related to consumer data collection by technology companies and empower individuals to have control over their personal information.

The proposed legislation aims to restrict

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) of 2023 is circulating Congress with bipartisan support. According to bill sponsors Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), KOSA would require social media companies to develop enhanced parental controls for online platforms. 

Additionally, and much more controversially, KOSA creates a duty for online platforms to prevent and

This week, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and the Chief Privacy Officer of IBM testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. During that hearing, it is reported that both “called on U.S. senators…to more heavily regulate artificial intelligence technologies that are raising ethical, legal and national

Chinese company ByteDance faces growing concerns from governments and regulators that user data from its popular short video-sharing app TikTok could be handed over to the Chinese government. The concern is based on China’s national security laws, which give its government the power to compel Chinese-based companies to hand over any user data. More than

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure heard testimony from U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg this week on the Biden Administration’s priorities and plans for national transportation infrastructure.

Although Secretary Buttigieg’s testimony did not provide details specifically about unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones), Secretary Buttigieg comes to the DOT with a

In light of the rise in use of drones in the national airspace, there has been some confusion regarding the Federal Aviation  Administration’s (FAA) authority over navigable airspace and federal preemption for state and local drone laws. In response, the FAA released a statement regarding federal versus local drone rulemaking authority. In that statement, the

In the last few weeks, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bills have made their way around both houses of Congress, which will allow funding to the FAA to continue beyond Fall 2017. These bills contain lengthy and significant language that could greatly affect commercial and hobbyist drone operations in the U.S. Below is a summary of the main provisions in the House’s bill:

  • UAS Traffic Management (UTM) System: Directs the FAA to initiate rulemaking within 18 months to establish procedures for issuing air navigation facility certificates to operators of low-altitude UTM systems.
  • Risk-Based Permitting Process: Establishes a risk-based permitting process to authorize UAS operations that meet certain safety standards.
  • Small UAS Air Carrier Certificate: Establishes an air carrier certificate for operators of small UAS for package delivery.
  • Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Operations at FAA Test Sites: Extends the FAA test site program and directs the FAA to permit BVLOS UAS flights if the UAS is equipped with sense-and-avoid technology at test sites.
  • UAS Privacy Review: Requires a Department of Transportation (DOT) study on the privacy implications of UAS operations.
  • UAS Registration: Directs the DOT to assess the FAA’s small UAS registration system and requires FAA to develop and track metrics and effectiveness of the system.
  • Role of State and Local Governments: Directs the DOT to study the potential roles of state and local governments in the regulation of low-altitude small UAS operations.
  • Pay-to-Play: Requires Comptroller General to study appropriate fee mechanisms to recover the costs of regulation and oversight of UAS.

Continue Reading FAA Reauthorization Bill: What does it mean for the UAS legal landscape?